Curcumin Promotes Recovery of Motor Function After Spinal Cord Injury in Rats Through Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR)-Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) Signaling Pathway

Objective: Curcumin possesses extensive therapeutic effects on several diseases and tumor cells, which has inhibitory effects on mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-STAT3 signaling. Our study aims to explore the influences of curcumin on promoting the recovery of motor function after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats through the mTOR-STAT3 signaling pathway. Methods: SCI rats were treated with rapamycin and curcumin followed by establishing rat models of SCI. The influences of rapamycin and curcumin on the protein expressions of PTEN, Akt, phosphorylated S6 and chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs) were measured by western blot. Means of Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale was used to assess motor function. Results: After SCI, curcumin promoted the expression of PTEN, reduced the proliferation of neuroglia cells, affected the expressions of CSPGs and improved the motor function. Conclusion: Curcumin can promote motor function recovery after SCI which is possibly by up-regulating the PTEN expression via the mTOR-STAT3 signaling pathway.