Curcumin reduces pain after spinal cord injury in rats by decreasing oxidative stress and increasing GABAA receptor and GAD65 levels

About 70% of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients experience neuropathic pain (NP), posing an important medical challenge. Painkillers are used to manage pain today and often have undesirable side effects. Curcumin's antioxidant properties may help alleviate NP following SCI (NP-SCI). We decided to study curcumin's effects on NP-SCI for the first time. Male Wistar rats were divided into five groups (n = 8): Control (no injury/no treatment), Sham (laminectomy), SCI (spinal cord compression at T11-T12 using a clip), Curcumin100 and Curcumin200 (Curcumin at 100 and 200 mg/kg administered 30 min after SCI for 10days). Motor function, allodynia, and hyperalgesia were assessed using the BBB scale, acetone, and tail-flick until six weeks after SCI. H&E staining for assaying cavity, western blot for measuring GAD65 and GABA-A receptors, and biochemical kits for assaying SOD, catalase, total antioxidant capacity, and MDA were used. PRISM software analyzed data. Results showed significant improvements in motion, allodynia, hyperalgesia, cavity, urinary retention (P < 0.0001), and weight in curcumin treatments. There was also a reduction in MDA, with increasing GABA-A receptors, GAD65, and antioxidants in them. Findings suggest curcumin may provide good analgesic effects through its antioxidants, and extensive studies are needed to confirm it as a treatment for NP-SCI in the clinic. Keyboards: spinal cord injury, curcumin, antioxidant, pain, GABA, GAD65 enzyme.