ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the protective effect of curcumin (Cur) on mice cornea against ultraviolet A (UVA)-induced damage.Methods Together 30 C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 3 groups (10 mice in each group):UVA irradiation group (UVA group),UVA irradiation with curcumin treatment group (UVA + Cur group) and control group.Mice in the UVA group was exposed to UVA for 24 h,with the wavelength of 320-400 nm and the irradiation intensity of 0.05 W · cm-2.In UVA + Cur group,mice were given 30 mg · kg-1 curcumin intraperitoneally 3 days before irradiation and lasted until 48 h after irradiation.And the control group was left untreated.Then corneal opacity was evaluated and scored through slit-lamp biomicroscopy.After irradiation for 48 h,corneal tissue was collected for the detection of the expression of NF-κB by electrophoretic mobility shift assay.Results After irradiation for 48 h,the score of corneal opacity in the UVA group (3.10 ± 0.74) was higher than that of the control group (0) and UVA + Cur group (0.35 ± 0.24) (P ＜ 0.05).The expression of NF-κB in cornea was detectable at a low level in the control group (1.25 ± 0.13),but was remarkably increased in UVA group (3.98 ± 0.58) and suppressed by curcumin in UVA +Cur group (1.58 ± 0.34) (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in corneal opacity score and NF-κB expression between control and UVA + Cur group (P ＞ 0.05),but there was significant difference between control and UVA group and UVA + Cur and UVA group (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Curcumin can protect cornea against UVA-induced damage via inhibiting NF-κB activation.