The Effect of Curcumin Supplementation on Expression of Regulatory Signaling Genes of Cardiac Muscle Growth Messenger in Obese Male Rats

Curcumin is one of the most important nutritional polyphenols that is included in daily supplements diet highly and plays a role in moderating some of the intracellular messenger pathways associated with the regulation of pathologic hypertrophy. The purpose of the present study is to survey the effect of curcumin supplementation on the expression of some genes regulators of the pathological processes of the heart muscle in rats. In this eight-week experimental study, 12 male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into two groups: obesity control (n=6) and curcumin supplement (n=6). Curcumin supplementation was conducted for eight weeks. 24 hours after the completion of the curcumin supplement protocol, the rats were dissected and their heart muscle was removed. The expression of the genes (AMPK, mTOR, S6K, 4EBP, COL1, COL3, and Ang) was performed using Real-Time PCR technique. The expression of the genes was calculated by the 2-∆∆CT method. One way ANOVA was applied to determine the significance of the variables among the study groups. This study with research ethics code IR.SUMS.REC.1396.S446 has been approved by research ethics committee at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The results has showed that supplement group of curcumin reduced the expression of mTOR (p < 0.001), S6K (p < 0.011), 4EBP (p > 0.005) collagen 1 (p > 0.002), Collagen 3 (p < 0.001) and Ang (p < 0.003) compared to the placebo group. There was also an increase in the expression of AMPK gene (p < 0.001) which was statistically significant. it seems that the supplementation of 10 mg curcumin moderate the pathological pathway of cardiac muscle hypertrophy by reducing or keeping up the expression of mTOR gene in obese rats and increasing the expression of AMPK gene. Moreover, this supplement can affect on reducing the pathological hypertrophy during the consumption of curcumin supplementation