Curcumin ameliorates methylglyoxal-induced alterations of cellular morphology and hyperpermeability in human umbilical vein endothelial cells

Abstract

Endothelial dysfunction such as hyper permeability is one of the char acteristics in an earlystage of diabetic complicatio ns. Curcumin has been sho wn to inhibit the formation ofadv anced glycation end products (AGEs)and to trap meth yglyo xal (MGO) in cell-free systemand in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).Here,we in vestigated the effect ofcur cumin on dysfunctions of HUVECs induced byexog enous MGO (30 lM), which signifi-cantly increased intracellular reacti ve oxyg en species (ROS),endothel ial permeability ,and cytoskeleton rearr ang ement. In contrast,MGO decreased gap junctional intercellularcommunication and the expression of co nnexin 43 and zonula occlude ns. Pre-tr eatmentof HUVECs with curcumin (0.25–2.5 lM) significantlyameliorated MG O-induced endothelialdysfunctio n, whereas pre-tr eatment with vitamin E(10 lM) only slightly ameliorated MGO-induced endothelial dysfu nction, sugg esting that ROS induced byMG O do not pla y amajorrole in endothel ial dysfu nction. These results sugg est that cur cumin is a potent ial protective agent against MGO-induced endothelial dysfunction