EFFECTS OF TURMERIC ON BLOOD AND LIVER LIPOPEROXIDE LEVELS OF MICE - LACK OF TOXICITY

We have investigated the effects on blood and liver lipoperoxide level s of turmeric, a potent antioxidant (from the rhizome of Curcuma Longa ) which is extensively used as a food additive in India and other Asia tic and Central American countries, This study was performed on female Swiss mice that were 17 +/- 2 week old at the start of the experiment , A control group of 20 mice was fed the standard diet and another 20 animals received in their food 4 mg/Kg mouse/day of hydroalcoholic ext ract of turmeric, equivalent to 0.4 mg/Kg mouse/day of the phenolic an tioxidant curcumin, This concentration is similar to that used in our current testing of turmeric on human subjects, The effects of the trea tment were determined weekly by measuring food intake, body weight and muscular and CNS function (evaluating performance of mice subjected t o string and T-maze tests), After four weeks of treatment, the mice we re sacrificed and blood and liver samples were removed for determinati on of lipid peroxidation (measuring malondialdehyde content by the thi obarbituric acid method). The treatment with turmeric did not result i n any toxic effects on the above physiological, behavioral and biochem ical parameters, On the other hand, our data show a decrease in the le vel of both plasma and liver lipid peroxides, In our opinion, these pr eliminary data justify further animal investigations on the effects of treatment with this antioxidant not only on lipid peroxidation, but a lso on atherogenesis and senescence, since, according to the radical t heory of aging, they man be linked to peroxidative changes.