Protective role of curcumin against sulfite-induced structural changes in rats' medial prefrontal cortex

Sodium metabisulfite as a food preservative can affect the central nervous system. Curcumin, the main ingredient of turmeric has neuroprotective activity. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of sulfite and curcumin on the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) using stereological methods.

Thirty rats were randomly divided into five groups. The rats in groups I-V received distilled water, olive oil, curcumin (100 mg/kg/day), sodium metabisulfite (25 mg/kg/day), and sulfite + curcumin, respectively, for 8 weeks. The brains were subjected to the stereological methods. Cavalieri and optical disector techniques were used to estimate the total volume of mPFC and the number of neurons and glial cells. Intersections counting were applied on the thick vertical uniform random sections to estimate the dendrites length, and classify the spines. Non-parametric tests were used to analyze the data.

The mean mPFC volume, neurons number, glia number, dendritic length, and total spines per neuron were 3.7 mm(3), 365,000, 180,000, 1820 µm, and 1700 in distilled water group, respectively. A reduction was observed in the volume of mPFC (∼8%), number of neurons (∼15%), and number of glia (∼14%) in mPFC of the sulfite group compared to the control groups (P < 0.005). Beside, dendritic length per neuron (∼10%) and the total spines per neuron (mainly mushroom spines) (∼25%) were reduced in the sulfite group (P < 0.005).

The sulfite-induced structural changes in mPFC and curcumin had a protective role against the changes in the rats.