The Potential of Curcumin in Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury

Table 2

Publications examining the antioxidant properties of curcumin. Groups equally divided unless otherwise indicated. SCI, spinal cord injury; SOD, superoxide dismutase (antioxidant); MDA, malondialdehyde (oxidant); DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide.

Reference	Sample size	Animal type	Method of SCI	Treatment groups	Route & timing of curcumin administration	Pathological findings	Outcomes/results
Şahin Kavakli et al. [26]	24	Wistar rats	Weight drop	After SCI: curcumin, methylprednisolone, or control	Orally; continuously until sacrificing	—	Higher SOD levels in curcumin group versus other two groups; lower MDA levels in curcumin & methylprednisolone groups versus control
Sanli et al. [27]	40	Wistar rats	Weight drop	No SCI, SCI alone, SCI/DMSO, SCI/curcumin/DMSO, and SCI/methylprednisolone	Single intraperitoneal dose directly after SCI	No difference in caliber of myelinated axons; less mitochondrial trauma in curcumin, methylprednisolone, and DMSO groups	Decreased lipid peroxidation and MDA levels in curcumin group; curcumin, methylprednisolone, and DMSO groups with improved neurological/functional tests
Liu et al. [28]	36	New Zealand rabbits	Transient (30 min) abdominal aortic occlusion	Sham SCI, SCI only, and SCI/curcumin	Single venous injection 10 minutes prior to SCI	Greater histologically normal neurons & fewer apoptotic cells in curcumin group	Improved neurological (motor) function in curcumin group
Yao et al. [29]	8	—	Various	Meta-analysis of 8 studies of curcumin versus control	Various	—	Curcumin-treated animals with lesser MDA levels and improved neuromotor functioning with potential dose response