Abstract:Objective To explore whether curcumin can alleviate gastric emptying disorder through acetylcholine pathway. Methods The mouse model of functional gastric emptying disorder was made by L-arginine (precursor of NO) and Atropine (blocker of acetylcholine receptor). A total of 54 healthy male Kunming mice were randomly divided into six groups including a control group, a curcumin group, a L-arginine group, an Atropine group, a curcumin+L-arginine group, and a curcumin+Atropine group. There were 9 mice in each group. Curcumin mixed suspension was intragastrically administrated for a total period of 15 d. L-arginine mixed suspension was given additionally through intragastric administration from the 11th day for a total period of 5 d. Atropine mixture was intraperitoneally injected once 40 min before measurement of gastric emptying rate. The other groups were administrated with the same way as the controls. Results Compared with the control group, the gastric emptying rate of mice decreased both in the L-arginine group and the Atropine group (P < 0.05), while the relative mRNA quantity and protein expression of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) and the activity of AchE also decreased (P < 0.05). Compared with the L-arginine group, the gastric emptying rate in the curcumin+L-arginine group increased (P < 0.05), and the relative mRNA quantity, protein expression and the activity of AchE also increased (P < 0.05). Compared with the Atropine group, the gastric emptying rate increased in the curcumin+Atropine group (P < 0.05), and the relative mRNA quantity, protein expression and the activity of AchE also increased (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in above indexes between the curcumin group and the control group (P > 0.05). Conclusions Curcumin can alleviate the functional gastric emptying disorder through affecting the release of acetylcholine in mouse model made by exogenous NO and Atropine.