Curcumin inhibits acute pulmonary embolism and inflammation by inhibiting high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)

Abstract

This study assessed the role of Curcumin in acute pulmonary embolism (APE) and inflammation. Male rats were assigned into sham operation group, APE group, low-dose and high-dose of Curcumin group for this study. Levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) inflammatory indicators were analyzed, including also, pathological changes of lung tissue. We also assessed High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), receptor for advanced glycation end product (RAGE) and Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) protein expressions. Results showed that, inflammation indicators were reduced after treatment at 6 h, 24 h, and 72 h, when compared with APE group, but were still higher than sham operation group (P <0.05). Serum inflammation index was higher at 2 h after modeling (P <0.05). Moreover, treatment groups showed continuously reduced HMGB1 protein expression, with lower level of HMGB1 in high dose group (P <0.05). RAGE expression continued to increase in APE and treatment groups (P <0.05). However, its level in treatment groups was lower than APE group (P <0 05). The NF-KB expression continued to increase in APE and treatment groups (P <0.05) with a lower level in treatment group (P <0.05). Curcumin effectively suppressed inflammatory response in acute pulmonary embolism, by reducing RAGE/NF-KB signal activity and inhibiting inflammatory response by inhibiting HMGB1 expression.