Fig. 3
From: Curcumin attenuates collagen-induced inflammatory response through the “gut-brain axis”
Effect of curcumin on acetylcholine biosynthesis and transport in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats. Rats were intradermally injected with type II collagen (CII) to induce CIA. Curcumin (Cur, 100 mg/kg) was orally administered daily 2 weeks, and serum, gut, brain, and synovium of rats were collected 1 h after treatment on day 28. The enzymatic activities of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in synovium and serum were measured by ELISA kits. The relative expression of high-affinity choline transporter 1 (CHT1), ChAT, and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) in gut, brain, and synovium were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR. The β-actin was used as the internal control. a The enzymatic activity of ChAT. b The enzymatic activity of AChE. c The relative expressions of CHT1, ChAT, and VAChT. d The expressions of ChAT and VAChT were assessed by immunohistochemical staining from paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Data were shown as means ± S.E.M. for each group (n = 6). #p < 0.05, ##p < 0.01 vs. normal group; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs. model group