Curcumin enhances non-inflammatory phagocytic activity of RAW264.7 cells.

Present study was performed to assess the effect of curcumin treatment on macrophage functions using RAW264.7 cells, a murine macrophage cell line. Phagocytic activity of RAW264.7 cells was enhanced by the treatment with curcumin for 48 hours while the nitric oxide synthesis from RAW264.7 cells following lipopolysaccharide exposure was blocked. The incubation of RAW264.7 cells with curcumin dose-dependently inhibited the stimulatory responses of macrophage triggered by lipopolysaccharide; the enhanced secretion of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha and IL-1beta and the up-regulated expression of surface antigens like CD14 and CD40. Curcumin alone, however, was able to increase the basal level of TNF-alpha secretion and elevated markedly the expression of CD14 and slightly CD40. The marked enhancement of both phagocytic activity and CD14 was detectable as early as 75min after curcumin treatment which is the minimum time period required for the phagocytosis and CD14 measurement, suggesting a signaling pathway distinct from that triggered by apoptotic cells. In conclusion, this study elucidates that curcumin treatment enhances the phagocytic activity with blocking nitric oxide synthesis, a scavenger function of macrophages in non-inflammatory condition. In addition, this enhancement of phagocytic activity is triggered directly by the signals from curcumin itself not by apoptotic cells.

Effects of 2-bromopropane on pregnant dams and embryo-fetal development in the ICR mouse.

2-Bromopropane (2-BP), a halogenated propane analogue, is a substitute for chlorofluorocarbones (CFCs) which have a great potential to destroy the ozone layer and to warm the earth's environment. The present study was carried out to investigate the potential adverse effects of 2-BP on pregnant dams and embryo-fetal development after maternal exposure during the gestational days (GD) 6-17 in ICR mice. The test chemical was administered subcutaneously to pregnant mice at dose levels of 0, 500, 1000, and 1500mg/kg per day. All dams were subjected to caesarean section on GD 18 and their fetuses were examined for external, visceral and skeletal abnormalities. Throughout the study period, no treatment-related deaths were found in the groups treated with 2-BP. Pregnant mice of the 1000 and 1500mg/kg groups showed treatment-related clinical signs such as rough fur and swelling, induration, crust formation, and ulceration in the injection sites which were dose dependent in incidence and severity. A decrease in fetal weight, an increase in fetal malformation, and an increase in fetal ossification delay were found at a dose level of 1500mg/kg per day in a dose-dependent manner. On the contrary, there were no adverse effects on body weight, body weight gain, gravid uterine weight, food consumption, gross finding at any dose tested. In addition, no treatment-related effects on the number of corpora lutea, implantations, resorptions, dead fetuses, live fetuses, and sex ratio of live fetuses were observed. These findings suggest that 2-BP was embryotoxic and teratogenic at a minimally maternally toxic dose (i.e., 1500mg/kg per day) in ICR mice. In the present experimental conditions, the no-observed-adverse-effect level of 2-BP is considered to be 500mg/kg per day for dams and 1000mg/kg per day for fetuses, respectively.