Purpose: Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response caused by infection. Curcumin is known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. FM0807, a curcumin derivative, was investigated in the present study to determine its effect on cytokines and the possible molecular mechanism. Main methods: The experiments were carried out in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. ELISA, Griess assays, fluorescence-based quantitative PCR, flow cytometric analysis, 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) experiments, and Western blotting were carried out to assess the potential effects of FM0807 on LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Significant findings: FM0807 had no cytotoxic effects on RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, pretreatment with FM0807 inhibited the inflammatory factor tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL) 1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) at the protein and gene levels. FM0807 also inhibited the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis. In addition, the activation of the ROS/JNK (c-jun NH₂-terminal kinase)/p53 signaling pathway was inhibited by FM0807 in RAW 264.7 cells in vitro. Conclusion: FM0807 has anti-inflammatory activity in vitro, which suggests a potential clinical application in sepsis. The anti-inflammatory activity of FM0807 may be mediated by the ROS/JNK/p53 signaling pathway.

Objective To determine the effect of ropivacaine on peripheral neuropathy in diabetic rats and its possible mechanism.Methods Forty-eight Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups: nondiabetic control group, nondiabetic group A (0.25% ropivacaine), nondiabetic group B (0.75% ropivacaine), diabetic control group (Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) +artificial cerebrospinal fluid), diabetic group A (DPN+0.25% ropivacaine), and diabetic group B (DPN + 0.75% ropivacaine), with eight rats in each group. Within an hour of the last administration, the sciatic nerve motor conduction velocity (MNCV) of each group was measured, and the morphological changes of rat sciatic nerve were observed by HE, Weil's staining and electron microscopy. The expression of TRPV-1 in the spinal cord dorsal horn of rats was analyzed by immunohistochemistry, and the expression of CGRP protein in the spinal cord was analyzed by Western blot. Results Compared with the nondiabetic control group, elevated blood glucose, decreased weight and reduced average mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT), additionally, the sciatic nerves showed significantly slowed conduction velocity (both p<0.001) and damaged pathological structure, the expression of TRPV1 and CGRP were decreased (both p<0.001) in the diabetic groups. Compared with the diabetic control group, down-regulation of TRPV1 and CGRP in spinal cord was significant for the diabetic group A and B treated with 0.25% and 0.75% ropivacaine, the higher concentration of ropivacaine correlated with a greater change. Conclusion Ropivacaine can significantly block sciatic nerve conduction velocity in DPN rats in a concentration-dependent manner, which may be related to the expression of the TRPV1-CGRP pathway.