Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal

Background and Objectives Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease which is characterized by joint swelling, and synovial inflammation. C reactive protein (CRP) and ceruloplasmin (CP) are identified as important biomarkers of RA and various inflammatory diseases. Curcumin, a widely used yellow color spice is the most active component of Curcuma longa L (Turmeric). Curcumin contains potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The goal of this study is evaluation of the anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin on arthritic palm of rats and levels of the CRP and CP in the blood samples of arthritis induced male albino Wistar rats.   Methods Arthritis was induced by subcutaneous injection of Freund’s Complete Adjuvant (FCA) into the palm of right rear foot of 8 different male albino Wistar rats. The rats were randomly divided into five groups after the injection. These groups were as follow: Group Ι, control normal rats Group II, carrier arthritic rats Group III, arthritic rats which were given 30mg/ kg of curcumin orally seven days prior to FCA injection Group IV, arthritic rats treated with 30mg/kg of curcumin Group V, arthritic rats treated with 3 mg/kg of indomethacin. All the groups except group III received oral treatment with curcumin seven days after FCA injection and the treatment was continued fourteen days thereafter. The rear foot thicknesses of all the rats were measured on days 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 after FCA injection. The rats were destroyed after 20 th day and their blood samples were collected.   Results The results of this study indicate that curcumin significantly decreases swelling of the rats rear foot (p<0.05), and levels of the CRP and CP as compared to carrier arthritic rats (p<0.05). One-way variance analysis by ANOVA program and post test analysis by Tukey were used for analysis of the collected data.   Conclusion Evaluation of the results of this experiment supports the anti-inflammatory, and possibly anti-arthritic properties of curcumin in the treatment of RA.