*3.4. Chronic Administration of Curcumin Rescued Apoptotic Cell Death and Neurodegeneration*

Studies have shown that there is an increased expression of apoptotic markers in ethanol-treated mice brains, which leads to apoptotic cell death and neuronal loss [4,40]. Keeping in mind the role of these apoptotic markers in ethanol-induced neurodegeneration, we analyzed the expression of apoptotic markers, including Bax and Bcl-2, Cleaved Caspase-3, and PARP-1 in mice brains. Per our Western blot results, there was an increased expression of pro-apoptotic markers Caspase-3, Bax, and PARP-1, and a decreased expression of Bcl-2 (anti-apoptotic marker) in the ethanol-treated mice brains. However, curcumin regulated the expression of these markers. Moreover, the immunofluorescence results indicated the increased expression of Caspase-3 and PARP-1 in the ethanol-treated mice brains, which were inhibited with chronic administration of curcumin (Figure 4).
