Inhibitory effect of curcumin in human endometriosis endometrial cells via downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor

Hong Cao, Yuxi Wei, Yu-Xi Wei, Qi Zhou, Ying Zhang, Xiao-Peng Guo, Xiaopeng Guo, Jun Zhang
Molecular medicine reports · 2017 · vol. 16(4) , pp. 5611–5617 · doi:10.3892/mmr.2017.7250 · PMID:28849024 · W2745752107
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Curcumin treatment decreased human endometriotic stromal cell growth and survival by downregulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and altering cell cycle progression.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This in vitro study investigated how curcumin affects human endometriotic stromal cells, using samples from 14 patients with endometriosis and assessing cell purity, proliferation (MTT and H&E), cell-cycle distribution (flow cytometry), VEGF protein expression (immunohistochemistry), and apoptosis (Annexin V-FITC). Curcumin treatment decreased growth of both ectopic and eutopic stromal cells, with a curcumin dose of 50 µmol/l associated with increased G1-phase and decreased S-phase cell percentages. The authors also found that curcumin reduced VEGF expression, linking reduced cell survival to downregulation of VEGF-related signaling. A limitation explicitly implied by the design is that the work is confined to cultured stromal cells rather than in vivo testing in this report. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it tests curcumin’s inhibitory effects on human endometriotic and eutopic endometrial stromal cells via VEGF downregulation.

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Abstract

Endometriosis, which affects up to 10% of women of reproductive age, is defined as endometrial-like gland and stroma tissue growths outside the uterine cavity. Despite increasing research efforts, there are no current effective treatment methods for this disease, therefore investigations for therapeutic strategies are of primary concern. In preliminary work, the authors demonstrated that curcumin inhibits endometriosis in vivo. The present in vitro study aimed to investigate the association between endometriotic stromal cells and curcumin and to clarify the underlying mechanism of action. A total of 14 patients with endometriosis were enrolled in the present study. The purity of endometrial stromal cell cultures was proven by standard immunofluorescent staining of vimentin. The cell proliferation and curcumin effects on endometrial stromal cells were assessed by the MTT assay and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. For cell cycle analysis, phase distribution was detected by flow cytometry. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression was examined using immunohistochemistry staining. Apoptosis was assessed using Annexin V‑fluorescein isothiocyanate staining. The results indicated that the treatment of curcumin decreased human ectopic and eutopic stromal cell growth. Following treatment with curcumin, human endometriotic stromal cells demonstrated an increased percentage of G1‑phase cells and decreased percentages of S‑phase cells, particularly in the group treated with 50 µmol/l curcumin. Treatment with curcumin additionally decreased expression of VEGF. The data provide evidence that curcumin reduces cell survival in human endometriotic stromal cells, and this may be mediated via downregulation of the VEGF signaling pathway.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Curcumin Endometriosis Signal Transduction Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors Adult Apoptosis Biomarkers Cell Proliferation Cell Proliferation Curcumin Curcumin Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Flow Cytometry Humans Immunohistochemistry Middle Aged Signal Transduction Stromal Cells

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