Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Protective effects of tetrahydrocurcumin and curcumin against doxorubicin and cadmium-induced cytotoxicity in Chang liver cells

Nuntiya Somparn¹ , Veerapol Kukongviriyapan², Upa Kukongviriyapan³, Laddawan Senggunprai², Auemduan Prawan²

¹Division of Pharmacology, Preclinical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University; ²Department of Pharmacology; ³Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.

For correspondence:- Nuntiya Somparn Email: nuntiya_tom@hotmail.com Tel:+6629269710

Received: 11 October 2014 Accepted: 18 April 2015 Published: 26 May 2015

Citation: Somparn N, Kukongviriyapan V, Kukongviriyapan U, Senggunprai L, Prawan A. Protective effects of tetrahydrocurcumin and curcumin against doxorubicin and cadmium-induced cytotoxicity in Chang liver cells. Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(5):769-776 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i5.4

© 2015 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the cytoprotective effect of tetrahydrocurcumin, (THC) and curcumin (CUR) on cytotoxicity induced by doxorubicin and cadmium in Chang liver cells.

Methods: Cytotoxicity was determined by sulforhodamine B assay. The expression of nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) Nrf2 regulated cytoprotecetive enzymes, glutamylcysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) and NADP (H): quinone oxidoreductase1 (NQO1) was determined by Western blot analysis. Nuclear translocation of Nrf-2 was analyzed by immunofluorescence method. The level of superoxide formation was assayed by chemiluminescence method.

Results: Treatment with THC or CUR significantly induced GCLC and NQO1 expression and the nuclear translocation of Nrf2. Exposure to doxorubicin (DOX) or Cd for 24 h induced cell death of about 50 %. However, pre-treatment with THC or CUR (1 or 6 µM) for 24 h significantly increased cell survival to 80 or 90 %, respectively (p < 0.05). Similar pre-treatment with THC or CUR significantly protected against Cd-induced cell death by a level of 80 and 85 %, respectively (p < 0.05). The cytoprotective effect of these compounds was associated with suppressed DOX- and Cd-induced superoxide formation and induction of GCLC and NQO1 expression.

Conclusions: THC mediates its effects by activation of Nrf2 and its regulated enzymes, GCLC and NQO1. Induction of GCLC, NQO1 protein expression and suppression of superoxide are associated with the cytoprotective effect.

Keywords: Chang hepatocyte, Curcumin, Tetrahydrocurcumin, Cytoprotection, Doxorubicin, Cadmium