姜黄素缓解热应激诱导的奶牛乳腺上皮细胞氧化应激与凋亡的作用研究

doi:10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.12.042

Abstract

Abstract: This study aims to evaluate the protective effects of curcumin (Cur) on oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by heat stress (HS) in bovine mammary epithelial cells and to explore its potential mechanism via the regulation of related gene expression through the Nrf2 signaling pathway. Different concentrations of curcumin (0, 5, 10, 20, 50 nmol·L^-1) were used to screen the concentration which doesn't have cytotoxic effect on the cells. Then the concentration that showed the most significant recovery in cell viability under heat stress was selected as the treatment concentration for subsequent experiment. Bovine mammary epithelial cells were divided into four groups: control group (NC), curcumin-treated group (Cur), heat stress group (HS), and curcumin-treated heat stress group (HS+Cur). And oxidative stress response, apoptosis, and lactation-related gene expression were assessed using immunofluorescence, Western blot, and RT-qPCR. The results showed that, curcumin at concentrations of 5 and 10 nmol·L^-1 did not significantly affect the viability of bovine mammary epithelial cells (P>0.05). However, 10 nmol·L^-1 curcumin significantly improved cell viability under heat stress conditions (P<0.001). Curcumin increased mitochondrial membrane potential, reduced ROS and H₂O₂ levels, enhanced the activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD and GSH), decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and significantly inhibited the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio (P<0.05), thereby reducing apoptosis. Western blot results showed that curcumin reduced Keap1 expression while upregulating Nrf2, HO-1 (P<0.01) and NQO1 (P<0.05) downstream antioxidant gene expression. RT-qPCR results demonstrated that curcumin significantly restored the expression of lactation-related genes (CSN1S1, CSN1S2, CSN2) under heat stress conditions (P<0.05).In conclusion, curcumin alleviates oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by heat stress in bovine mammary epithelial cells by modulating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. It restores cell viability and upregulates lactation-related gene expression, providing a theoretical basis for the application of curcumin in mitigating heat stress in dairy cows.

Key words: curcumin, heat stress, bovine mammary epithelial cells

CLC Number:

S816.7

FU Tingshu, ZHOU Hongda, WANG Miao, CHEN Mengwei, BAI Xiaonan, MA Baohua, PENG Sha. Curcumin Alleviates Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis Induced by Heat Stress in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells[J]. Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica, 2025, 56(12): 6411-6421.

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Curcumin Alleviates Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis Induced by Heat Stress in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells

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