Curcumin Effects in Inducing mRNA Gene Cathelidicin Antimicrobial Peptide (CAMP) in Balb/c Mice Infected with Salmonella Typhi

Abstract

Due to many cases of antibiotic resistance in typhoid fever, efforts have been made to combine antibiotic therapy or active compounds with herbs. Curcumin is an active compound found in herbal plants. Curcumin has an antimicrobial effect; through binding to vitamin D receptors as a ligand, this increases the expression of mRNA CAMP gene and eradicates bacteria. 25 Adult balb/c mice, aged 8-12 weeks and weighing 30-40 grams, were induced with S. Typhi via intraperitoneal. They were randomly allocated in equal blocks to receive CM200 (Curcumin 200 mg/kg), CM400 (Curcumin 400 mg/kg), CM200+Vit.D(Curcumin 200 mg/kg with Vitamin D), positive control or negative control for 5 days. Mice were then maintained for 3 weeks to determine the amount of colony in the post-intervention period and the level of mRNA CAMP gene. Real time PCR was used to measure the expression of CAMP gene. The level of mRNA gene CAMP expression significantly increased in CM200 (2.01±0.75) and CM400 (4.06±0.68), pdifference< 0.0001. The highest increase of CAMP gene expression was observed in CM200+Vit.D(5.47±0.53), pdifference< 0.0001. Curcumin increased the mRNA expression of CAMP gene.

Keywords

• Curcumin
• CAMP
• Salmonella
• Colony count