Figure 1. Curcumin inhibits expression and secretion of VEGF.

A. Concentration-dependent effect of curcumin on the gene expression of VEGF-A. The mRNA level was determined by real-time RT-PCR after stimulation of the cells with curcumin for 2 and 6 h, respectively. B. Concentration-dependent effect of curcumin on the secretion of VEGF from RPE cells. The effects were determined in the absence (control) and presence of PDGF (10 ng/ml) and CoCl₂ (150 µM), respectively, for 6 h. The level of VEGF-A₁₆₅ in the cultured media was determined by ELISA. The concentration of curcumin (in µM) is given in the bars. The vehicle control was made with ethanol (0.2%). Data are means ± SEM of 3–6 independent experiments carried out in triplicate using cells from different donors. Significant difference vs. untreated control: *P<0.05; **P<0.01. Significant difference vs. PDGF and CoCl₂, respectively: ^• P<0.05; ^•• P<0.01.