Fig. 5

Unilateral cervical vagotomy blunted the enhancement of curcumin on acetylcholine biosynthesis and transport. Rats were subjected to unilateral vervical vagotomy (VGX) 4 days before collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) was induced. Fourteen days after first immunization, curcumin (Cur, 100 mg/kg) were administered orally for 2 weeks. Gut, brain, and synovium were collected 1 h after treatment on day 28. The relative expression of high-affinity choline transporter 1 (CHT1), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR. The β-actin was used as the internal control. a The relative expression of CHT1. b The relative expression of ChAT. c The relative expression of 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. VGX group; ^&&p < 0.01 vs. V-model group