Curcumin Alleviates IUGR Jejunum Damage by Increasing Antioxidant Capacity through Nrf2/Keap1 Pathway in Growing Pigs.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of curcumin on IUGR jejunum damage. A total of 24 IUGR and 12 normal-birth weight (NBW) female crossbred (Duroc × Landrace × Large White) piglets were randomly assigned into three groups at weaning (26 days): IUGR group, NBW group, and IUGR + CUR group, which were fed diets containing 0 mg/kg (NBW), 0 mg/kg (IUGR) and 200 mg/kg (IUGR + CUR) curcumin from 26 to 115 days of age. Results showed that dietary supplementation with 200 mg/kg curcumin significantly increased the total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity and decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the jejunum of IUGR pigs ( < 0.05). Results of real-time PCR showed that the IUGR + CUR group significantly increased the gene expression of NF-E2-related factor 2 () ( < 0.05), and increased the glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (), superoxide dismutase 1 (), glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit (), and NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 () mRNA expression compared with the IUGR group ( < 0.05). Western blot results showed that dietary supplementation with 200 mg/kg curcumin significantly increased the protein levels of Nrf2 and NQO1. Compared with the IUGR group, pigs in IUGR + CUR group showed significantly decreased the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (), interleukin-6 (), and interferon gamma () ( < 0.05), and increased the interleukin-2 () level ( < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with 200 mg/kg curcumin significantly reduced cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 3 (), BCL2-associated X protein (), B-cellCLL/lymphoma 2 (), and heat-shock protein 70 () mRNA expression, and increased occludin () mRNA expression ( < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 200 mg/kg curcumin can alleviate jejunum damage in IUGR growing pigs, through Nrf2/Keap1 pathway.