Evaluation of Curcumin Ointment Effects on Dinitrochlorobenzene-Induced Contact Dermatitis in Mouse

One of the post-surgical complications is contact dermatitis caused by several factors such as scrub solution, suture materials, bandages and even surgical gloves. Conventional treatment for this problem is the use of corticosteroids that may cause undesirable side-effects. Curcumin is the active component of turmeric that have known anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, its effects on experimentally induced contact dermatitis were investigated in this study.
Twenty male BALB/c mice were used in this study. The mice were equally divided into four groups. The negative control (NC), positive control (PC), and treatment (T) groups were sensitized by dinitrochlorobenzene painting on dorsum of the mice, followed by contact dermatitis induction on their ear. Curcumin and Betamethasone topical ointments were applied to the ear of the T and PC groups for a week, respectively. Contact dermatitis left untreated in the NC and sham (S) groups. Ear thickness was measured during the study. After completing the course of treatment, the mice were euthanized and ear specimens were fixed, sectioned and stained with hematoxylin and eosin.
Findings: Macroscopic evaluations revealed that contact dermatitis was induced in all of the NC, PC, and T groups successfully. Ear thickness differences in day 22 and 30 were significant (pDiscussion & Based on the results, we can conclude that topical application of curcumin ointment to the mice suffering from contact dermatitis may reduce inflammation, edema, and epidermal thickening, which is comparable to the effects of corticosteroid medications.