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World J Gastroenterol. Jul 7, 2026; 32(25): 118140
Published online Jul 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.118140
Published online Jul 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.118140
Curcumin nanoparticles mitigate early inflammation in severe acute pancreatitis by modulating peritoneal macrophage polarization via Nrf2/HO-1 pathway activation
Lin Yang, Dong-Xu Liao, Xiao-Yu Wang, Yi Wen, College of Medicine, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, Sichuan Province, China
Yong-Hong Fan, Department of Basic Medical Laboratory, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu 610083, Sichuan Province, China
Zhu-Lin Luo, Yi Wen, Department of General Surgery & Tissue Stress Injury and Functional Repair Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu 610083, Sichuan Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Zhu-Lin Luo and Yi Wen.
Author contributions: Yang L and Liao DX contributed to conceptualization, methodology, and software; Yang L, Liao DX and Wen Y designed the research; Yang L, Wang XY and Liao DX performed the research; Yang L and Fan YH conducted data curation, and original draft preparation; Wang XY contributed to visualization and investigation; Luo ZL and Wen Y supervised the research; Fan YH is responsible for validation; Yang L contributed to writing, reviewing, and editing of the article. Wen Y and Luo ZL revised the manuscript, and they are designated as co-corresponding authors. All authors have read and approved the final version to be published.
AI contribution statement: We did not use any AI tools. All the core parts of this manuscript - including the abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion - were independently written by the author team without using any AI tools. We did not use AI tools for language polishing, translation, data analysis, or writing assistance. The design of the study, data interpretation, and conclusion formation did not use any AI tools. All the images in this manuscript were drawn manually, not generated by AI.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 32471419; National Key Clinical Specialty Project, No. 41732113; and Independent Innovation Project of General Hospital of Western Theater Command, No. 2024-YGLC-B03.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All animal experimental protocols were reviewed and approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the General Hospital of the Western Theater Command (Approval No. 2025EC10-ky038), and were strictly conducted in accordance with international guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest related to this study.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Corresponding author: Yi Wen, MD, Department of General Surgery & Tissue Stress Injury and Functional Repair Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, No. 270 Rongdu Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu 610083, Sichuan Province, China. 13980881194@163.com
Received: December 25, 2025
Revised: February 3, 2026
Accepted: March 17, 2026
Published online: July 7, 2026
Processing time: 188 Days and 9.7 Hours
Revised: February 3, 2026
Accepted: March 17, 2026
Published online: July 7, 2026
Processing time: 188 Days and 9.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study provides the first evidence that curcumin nanoparticles (Cur-NPs) alleviate the early inflammatory response in severe acute pancreatitis by activating nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) signaling pathway to regulate polarization of peritoneal macrophages. Cur-NPs significantly ameliorated pancreatic tissue damage and reduced serum levels of inflammatory factors. Cur-NPs exerted therapeutic effects by inducing a shift in macrophage polarization from the proinflammatory M1 to anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype. Activation of the HO-1 pathway via promoted Nrf2 nuclear translocation mediated the suppressive effect of Cur-NPs on the nuclear factor kappa-B signaling pathway and oxidative stress.