Protective effects of curcumin against human immunodeficiency virus 1 gp120 V3 loop-induced neuronal injury in rats

Zheng Gong; Lijuan Yang; Hongmei Tang; Rui Pan; Sai Xie; Luyan Guo; Junbin Wang; Qinyin Deng; Guoyin Xiong; Yanyan Xing; Jun Dong

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2012.03.002

Protective effects of curcumin against human immunodeficiency virus 1 gp120 V3 loop-induced neuronal injury in rats

Neural Regen Res. 2012 Jan 25;7(3):171-5. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2012.03.002.

Authors

Zheng Gong¹, Lijuan Yang¹, Hongmei Tang¹, Rui Pan², Sai Xie¹, Luyan Guo¹, Junbin Wang¹, Qinyin Deng¹, Guoyin Xiong¹, Yanyan Xing¹, Jun Dong¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Medical College of Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China ; Institute of Brain Research, Medical College of Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China ; Joint Laboratory for Brain Function and Health of Jinan University and the University of Hongkong, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China.
² Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China.

PMID: 25767494
PMCID: PMC4353109
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2012.03.002

Abstract

Curcumin improves the learning and memory deficits in rats induced by the gp120 V3 loop. The present study cultured rat hippocampal neurons with 1 nM gp120 V3 loop and 1 μM curcumin for 24 hours. The results showed that curcumin inhibited the gp120 V3 loop-induced mitochondrial membrane potential decrease, reduced the mRNA expression of the pro-apoptotic gene caspase-3, and attenuated hippocampal neuronal injury.

Keywords: caspase-3; curcumin; gp120 V3 loop; hippocampal neurons; human immunodeficiency virus-associated neurocognitive function; mitochondrial membrane potential; neural regeneration.