Objective: To investigate the protective effect of curcumin in hepatic cold ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats and its possible mechanisms.
Methods: Forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (n=21),rats were administered curcumin by injection through tail vein  at the dose of 60mg/kg which was dissolved in one milliliter DMSO two hours before cold ischemia period,and the remaining rats served as control group.The  hepatic cold ischemia was 30 minutes. All the rats were sacrificed six hours after reperfusion. Blood and liver samples were collected for determination of serum levels of ALT, AST and LDH and the tissue homogenate levels of SOD, MDA and MPO. Pathomorphological changes of liver tissue and the situation of apoptosis were observed under optical microscope. The content of TNF-α and MIP-2 in the liver homogenate were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).
Results: Compared with control groups, the serum levels of ALT,AST and LDH in experimental groups were significantly decreased （P＜0.01）.The tissue homogenate levels of MDA,MPO, TNF-α and MIP-2 in experimental groups were significantly decreased.（P＜0.05）; the level of SOD was obviously elevated（P＜0.05）.Pathological studies indicated that curcumin attenuated liver tissue injury and inhibited apoptosis in the rats.
Conclusions: Curcumin can attenuate the cold ischemia-reperfusion injury of liver in rats, and its possible mechanisms may be related to increasing the activity of SOD,inhibiting lipid peroxidation and apoptosis,decreasing the expression of TNF-α and MIP-2, and suppressing the activation and infiltration of neutrophils.