title: Analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of brucine and brucine N-oxide extracted from seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica.
abstract: To further understand the purpose of the traditional processing method of the seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica L. (Loganiaceae) as well as analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of brucine and brucine N-oxide extracted from this medicinal plant, various pain and inflammatory models were employed in the present study to investigate their pharmacological profiles. Both brucine and brucine N-oxide revealed significant protective effects against thermic and chemical stimuli in hot-plate test and writhing test. However, on different phases they exerted analgesic activities in formalin test. Brucine N-oxide showed stronger inhibitory effect than brucine in carrageenan-induced rat paw edema, both of them significantly inhibited the release of prostaglandin E2 in inflammatory tissue, reduced acetic acid-induced vascular permeability and the content of 6-keto-PGF1a in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) induced arthritis rat's blood plasma. In addition, brucine and brucine N-oxide were shown to reduce the content of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in FCA-induced arthritis rat's blood plasma, while increase the content of 5-hydroxytryindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA) accordingly. These results suggest that central and peripheral mechanism are involved in the pain modulation and anti-inflammation effects of brucine and brucine N-oxide, biochemical mechanisms of brucine and brucine N-oxide are different even though they are similar in chemical structure.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 282 Hanzhong Road, 210029, Nanjing, PR China
authors.forename: Wu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Tian-Shan
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fang-Zhou
authors.initials: FZ
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Bao-Chang
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy; D002199:Capillary Permeability / Q000187:drug effects; D003497:Cyclic N-Oxides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004487:Edema / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D010146:Pain / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry; D012701:Serotonin / Q000097:blood; D013331:Strychnine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D031461:Strychnos nux-vomica / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D003497:Cyclic N-Oxides; D010936:Plant Extracts; C083067:brucine N-oxide; D012701:Serotonin; C083806:brucine; D013331:Strychnine