Abstract: Objective To explore the effects of curcumin on the content of malondialdehyde(MDA) and the expression level of c-fos protein following hypoxia ischemia brain damage(HIBD) in rats. Methods Sprague- Dauley(SD) rats were randomly divided into four groups as the following: sham group, hypoxia ischemia brain damage group, curcumin group and solvent control group. The content of MDA in the brain was measured by colorimetry. The expression level of c-fos protein in the cortex tissue was detected by im- munohistochemistry. Morphologic and structural changes of neuron cells of the cortex were observed by electron microscopy. Results The content of MDA was clearly lower in curcumin group than that in the other groups at the same time after HIBD. The expression level of c-fos protein was higher in the cur- cumin group than that in the other groups (P<0.05). Electron microscopy showed that the morphologic and structural changes of neuron cells of cortex in the curcumin group were reduced. Conclusion Cur- cumin could significantly decrease the content of MDA, increase the expression level of c-fos protein and reduce the damage of the neuron cells.

Key words: forensic pathology, hypoxia-ischemia, brain, curcumin, malondialdehyde, c-fos protein, rats