Efeito da curcumina e três análogos – DMAD, DMAM E RI75 – sobre viabilidade, diferenciação e expressão gênica em pré-osteoblastos

Abstract

Curcumin, found in the rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), has been widely studied due to its potential health benefits which, among others, include anti inflammatory, antioxidant and healing properties. However, due to their low bioavailability and unfavorable pharmacokinetics, analogous compounds are developed and studied to obtain better biopharmaceutical characteristics and increase biological effects. In this work, we evaluated the activity of curcumin and three of its synthetic analogues (DMAD, DMAM and RI75) on the viability and differentiation of a pre-osteoblastic cell line (MC3T3-E1). The expression of the genes vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (cxcl12) and runt related transcription factor 2 (runx2) was also evaluated. Cells were stimulated with curcumin and the three analogues using concentrations of 10, 30 or 50 µM. Curcumin and the analogues tested showed no, slight or moderate cellular cytotoxicity compared to the negative control, after 24, 48 and 72 hours, at the concentrations tested. The mineralization activity results for curcumin and the DMAD analogue showed no statistical difference with the control group, while the DMAM and RI75 analogues showed lower mineralization activity. None of the substances showed differential gene expression of cxcl12, an activator of endothelial and inflammatory cells. On the other hand, compared to the control, the curcumin analogue RI75 showed upregulation of runx2 and vegf, both related to tissue repair. The results suggest that the DMAD, DMAM and RI75 analogues present similar or lower cytotoxicity compared to natural curcumin and greater biological activity, especially the RI75 analogue, being, therefore, substances with promising potential for biomodification of materials.