Oral curcumin phytosome supplementation improves anthropometric measures of adiposity and enhances endothelial function in rats on a high-fat-diet regimen

Curcumin has a protective role in endothelial function and nitric oxide (NO) production in animal models of different diseases; however, the role of curcumin on aortic reactivity in rats placed on a high-fat diet (HFD) remains unclear. This study aims to determine whether oral curcumin phytosome supplementation can reduce adiposity and enhance endothelial function. Rats were assigned to one of three groups: normal diet (ND), HFD for 20 weeks, and HFD supplemented with curcumin phytosome (HFD + Curcumin). Anthropometric measures were recorded weekly for the three groups, until the end of the feeding regimen. After 20 weeks of feeding on HFD, myographic investigations were conducted on thoracic aortic rings dissected from HFD and HFD + Curcumin rats. The response to high potassium chloride (KCl), incremental doses of phenylephrine (Phe) before and after L-NAME treatment, acetylcholine (ACh), or sodium nitroprusside (SNP), was evaluated. ACh-induced relaxation was also assessed in HFD + Curcumin rats, after preincubation with chromium III-mesoporhyrin. HFD rats exhibited increased adiposity measures, some of which were negatively correlated with vasorelaxation response to ACh. HFD + Curcumin rats had reduced anthropometric measures, compared to HFD rats. Aortic rings from HFD and HFD + Curcumin rats exhibited comparable contractile responses to KCl and Phe. The difference in contractile response to Phe before and after L-NAME incubation was greater for HFD + Curcumin rats. ACh induced greater vasorelaxant responses in HFD + Curcumin rats. There was no group difference in the relaxant response to SNP. In HD + Curcumin rats, chromium III mesoporphyrin significantly reduced ACh-induced relaxations. Oral curcumin phytosome supplementation could reduce adiposity in rats placed on an HFD and may have enhanced basal and stimulated NO release from the endothelium, and heme oxygenase-1 may partly mediate this curcumin protective role. This study provides evidence that this curcumin formulation, taken as a daily supplement, may be effective in providing some protection against adiposity-associated adverse cardiovascular disorders.