The effects of curcumin supplementation on some apoptotic markers in laying hens, a preclinical model for human ovarian cancer

The Effects of Curcumin Supplementation on Some Apoptotic Markers in Laying Hens, a Preclinical Model for Human Ovarian Cancer Ovarian cancer mostly occurs in middle-aged and late middle-aged women and is a disease that results in maximum death among gynecological cancers. Epithelial ovarian cancer is the most lethal of the gynecologic malignancies and nearly 70 % of diagnosed patients are not able to survive. There have been many developments achieved in cancer therapies through recent years whereas a long term course of treatment in the fight against this disease has not been recorded. The possibilty of early diagnosis is unclear and an effective treatment for women with metastatic disease has not been determined yet. The failure of the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer is linked to its high repetition rate along with lack of an effective early detection test, inhibition of tumor-anti tumor immunity and increased resistance to drugs. Curcumin has many effects such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, antimutagenic, antimetastatic, anti-inflammatory. Curcumin has a notable antioxidant activity that is comparable with the antioxidant vitamins. In this study, different doses of the curcumin were administered to the diets of laying hens, which is a preclinical model for ovarian cancer, and the effects on the expressions of tissue Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-3 and caspase-9 proteins have been investigated. The laying hens (n =270, 104 weeks old) were divided randomly into three groups. I. The group which received a standard chicken diet was assigned as Control group (C); II. The group which received a standard chicken diet + Curcumin (200 mg / kg); III. The group which received a standard chicken diet + Curcumin (400 mg / kg). The study lasted for 12 months. This study demonstrated that the administration of curcumin on ovarian cancer has shown a protective and curative effect in laying hens of spontaneous evolving ovarian cancer. Bax (p<0.05), Caspase-3 (p<0.0001), and Caspase-9 (p<0.0001) protein expression levels were significantly increased, in contrast to Bcl-2 (p<0.0001) level which was significantly decreased in laying hens treated with curcumin. The obtained data has revealed that curcumin treatment alleviated cancer in the ovarian tissue by an increased therapeutic effect depending on the increasing amount of the dose administered. Key Words: Ovarian Cancer, Curcumin, Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3, Caspase-9