Relief of oxidative stress and cardiomyocyte apoptosis by using curcumin nanoparticles

In this work, the influence of curcumin nanoparticles (CUR-NPs) on NADPH oxidase-related reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cardiac apoptosis, together with the modulation of protein signaling pathways, were investigated in detail by using cardiomyocytes. The exposure of cardiomyocytes to palmitate (PA) led to an increase in both cell apoptosis and intracellular ROS levels, which were strongly inhibited by CUR-NPs. CUR-NPs treatment remarkably suppressed the increased activity of Rac1, as well as the enhanced expression of p22^phox, p47^phox, p67^phox and gp91^phox induced by PA. Lipid peroxidation and SOD were reversed in the presence of CUR-NPs. Furthermore, CUR-NPs treatment markedly inhibited the reduced Bcl-2/Bax ratio elicited by PA exposure. CUR-NPs significantly increased GRP78 and CHOP expression in cardiomyocytes. Pravastatin (a known ERS inhibitor) blocked the effects of CUR-NPs on cardiomyocytes exposure to PA. These results demonstrated that CUR-NPs attenuated PA-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis by inhibiting NADPH-mediated oxidative stress, and this protective effect is possibly mediated by endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-related signaling pathway.