Protective Effect of Curcumin Supplementation and 8 Weeks of Endurance Training on the Antioxidant Index of the Liver of Rats

Curcumin as a natural antioxidant is used in some studies. On the other hand, regarding the limited number of studies related to consumption of curcumin in exercise, and according to the role of the liver as the tissue involved in oxidative stress in athletes, in the present study, the effect of 8 weeks of endurance training and curcumin supplementation of antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase) on the liver of rats was studied.
Thirteen male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups as control (n=6), training (n=9), curcumin (n=9), and curcumin-training (n=9). The training groups underwent an endurance training program for 8 weeks. The exercise program running on a treadmill with no incline for 5 days per week for 30-70 minutes was conducted. The rats in curcumin and curcumin-training groups received 30 mg per kg of body weight of the injected curcumin solution for 3 days a week. 48 hours after the last training session, samples of tissues were collected for the GPX, CAT and SOD measurements. Data were analyzed using Two-way ANOVA test at α≤0.05.
Eight weeks consumption of curcumin caused a significant increase on the level of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase enzymes in the curcumin group (p≤0.003). Also there was a significant increase on glutathione peroxidase enzyme in the curcumin-training group (p≤0.001). However, effect of curcumin supplementation along with endurance training on catalase and superoxide dismutase was not significant.
The findings suggest that Curcumin intake along with endurance training can maintain or increase enzymatic antioxidant defense in the liver of rats.