Objective: To investigate the effect of curcumin supplementation on the improvement of heart microvasculature in Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat.
Material and Method: Streptozotocin (STZ: 60 mg/kg BW) was applied into rat to induce diabetic condition. Male rats were
divided into three groups, control (C), diabetic (DM) and diabetic rats supplemented with curcumin (DMC) (200 mg/kg BW). After 8 and 12 weeks of experiments, heart microvasculature was investigated under vascular corrosion cast technique with scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Results: Destruction of heart microvasculature of DM group was observed at 8 and 12-week experiments. Five important
categories of heart vessels and related veins and venules were examined respectively: right coronary arteries (RCA), medium
arteries (MA), small arteries (SA), arterioles, and capillaries. RCA, cardiac arteries and veins demonstrated abnormality.
Atypical patterns of vessels were presented, including shrinkage of artery vessels, capillary dropout, constriction and tortuousity of small cardiac vein and venules, and microaneurysm. At 12-week experiment, vascular lesion of DM group increased in complicated signs, including arterial constrictions and stenosis, arterial blind endings, capillary dropout and shrinkage. In addition, severity of microaneurysm dilatation of arterial branch of RCA, arterial tortuosity, coiled and twisting arteries were investigated. The diameters of vessels of all DM groups were evidently decreased. Subsequent to curcumin supplementation, typical and healthy heart microvasculatures were restored and redeveloped. The diameter sizes of DMC vessels have nearly increased back to normal situations, especially at artery, arteriole, and capillary levels.
Conclusion: Efficiency of curcumin treatment beneficially repaired and recovered heart microvascular diabetic complications. This evidence suggests that potential anti-diabetic effect of curcumin is meaningful about the ongoing therapeutic consequences, owing to the improvement and recovery of heart blood vessels.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Streptozotocin, Curcumin, Microvasculature, Heart vessels, Vascular corrosion cast, Scanning electron microscope