Suppressive effect of curcumin on trichloroethylene-induced oxidative stress

In vivo antioxidative effects of curcumin were investigated using a trichloroethylene (TCE)-induced oxidative stress model in mouse liver. Increases in the contents of peroxisome and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and decreases in GSH content of mouse liver by the TCE administration were suppressed by the pre-administration of curcumin. TCE-induced changes in the activities of antioxidative enzyme, such as Cu/Zn-SOD, catalase, glutathione reductase. glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and D-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), were also diminished by curcumin. These results indicate that curcumin significantly suppresses TCE-induced oxidative stress by scavenging various free radicals, and its antioxidative activity seems to be derived from its suppressive effects on the increase in peroxisome content and decrease in GPx and G6PD activities.