Effects of curcumin on memory, hippocampal acetylcholine level and neuroapoptosis in repeated cerebral ischemia rat model

The aim of this study was to determine the protective effects of curcumin on memory, hippocampal acetylcholine level and apoptosis in a rat model of repeated cerebral ischemia. Male Wistar rats were divided into sham rats that received saline and the other 3 groups underwent 4-vessel occlusion brain ischemia (4VOI), received oral administration of either saline or curcumin at doses rate of 25mg/kg/day and 50mg/kg/day for 7 days. Memory function was evaluated by eight-arm radial maze task and Morris water maze (MWM) test, Acetylcholine release (ACh) in the dorsal hippocampus was evaluated by microdialysis-HPLC) and neuron apoptosis was investigated by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase mediated fluorescein-deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling. 4VOI test reviled impaired memory, reduced dorsal hippocampus Ach level and induced apoptosis in the Repeated Cerebral Ischemia rat model. Curcumin significantly improved the memory deficit (p<0.001), increased Ach level (p<0.001) and prevented hippocampal neuron apoptosis (p<0.001). Curcumin may be suggested as a promising therapy for ischemic cerebrovascular dementia and its beneficial effect is due to its memory preserving, ACh-increasing and neuroprotective effects in the rat.