New findings on the in vivo antioxidant activity of Curcuma longa extract by an integrated 1H NMR and HPLC-MS metabolomic approach

Curcuminoids possess powerful antioxidant activity as demonstrated in many chemical in vitro tests and in several in vivo trials. Nevertheless, the mechanism of this activity is not completely elucidated and studies on the in vivo antioxidant effects are still needed. Metabolomics may be used as an attractive approach for such studies and in this paper, we describe the effects of oral administration of a Curcuma longa L. extract (150 mg/kg of total curcuminoids) to 12 healthy rats with particular attention to urinary markers of oxidative stress. The experiment was carried out over 33 days and changes in the 24-h urine samples metabolome were evaluated by H-1 NMR and HPLC-MS. Both techniques produced similar representations for the collected samples confirming our previous study. Modifications of the urinary metabolome lead to the observation of different variables proving the complementarity of 1H NMR and HPLC-MS for metabolomic purposes. The urinary levels of allantoin, m-tyrosine, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, and nitrotyrosine were decreased in the treated group thus supporting an in vivo antioxidant effect of the oral administration of Curcuma extract to healthy rats. On the other hand, urinary TMAO levels were higher in the treated compared to the control group suggesting a role of curcumin supplementation on microbiota or on TMAO urinary excretion. Furthermore, the urinary levels of the sulphur containing compounds taurine and cystine were also changed suggesting a role for such constituents in the biochemical pathways involved in Curcuma extract bioactivity and indicating the need for further investigation on the complex role of antioxidant curcumin effects.