Administration of Curcumin Alleviates Neuropathic Pain in a Rat Model of Brachial Plexus Avulsion.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Brachial plexus avulsion (BPA) generally causes a chronic persistent pain that lacks efficacious treatment. Curcumin has been found to possess anti-inflammatory abilities. However, little is known about the mechanisms and effects of curcumin in an animal model of BPA. METHODS: Mechanical withdrawal thresholds (MWT) were examined by von Frey filaments. Cold allodynia was tested by the acetone spray test. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL)-6 in rat spinal cords were analyzed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the expression levels of c-Fos and nerve growth factor (NGF) were measured by Western blot. The expression level of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was observed by immunofluorescence and Western blot. RESULTS: After curcumin treatment, the MWT showed a significant increase when compared to the BPA group on both hind paws. A remarkable decrease of paw-withdrawal response frequency was observed compared with the BPA group. In addition, curcumin treatment significantly decreased the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in rat spinal cords that were exceedingly upregulated in the BPA group. The protein levels of c-Fos and NGF were decreased by treatment with curcumin compared with the corresponding protein levels in the BPA group. Besides, curcumin reduced the number of GFAP positive cells and GFAP expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that curcumin significantly extenuates the BPA-induced pain and inflammation by reducing the expression level of proinflammatory cytokines and pain-associated proteins and inhibiting the activity of astrocytes.