title: Antinociceptive effect of amygdalin isolated from Prunus armeniaca on formalin-induced pain in rats.
abstract: Amygdalin is a plant glucoside isolated from the stones of rosaceous fruits, such as apricots, peaches, almond, cherries, and plums. To investigate the pain-relieving activity of amygdalin, we induced pain in rats through intraplantar injection of formalin, and evaluated the antinociceptive effect of amygdalin at doses of 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 10.0 mg/kg-body weight by observing nociceptive behavior such as licking, biting and shaking, the number of Fos-immunoreactive neurons in the spinal cord, and the mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines in the plantar skin. The intramuscular injection of amygdalin significantly reduced the formalin-induced tonic pain in both early (the initial 10 min after formalin injection) and late phases (10-30 min following the initial formalin injection). During the late phase, amygdalin did reduce the formalin-induced pain in a dose-dependent manner in a dose range less than 1 mg/kg. Molecular analysis targeting c-Fos and inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) also showed a significant effect of amygdalin, which matched the results of the behavioral pain analysis. These results suggest that amygdalin is effective at alleviating inflammatory pain and that it can be used as an analgesic with anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities.
authors.affiliation: Acupuncture & Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Pil
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang-Ju
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hye-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Insop
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Chang Shik
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Young
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Dae-Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Hahm
mesh_terms: D000678:Amygdalin / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000700:Analgesics; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D005557:Formaldehyde; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D016762:Genes, fos / Q000187:drug effects; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000187:drug effects*; D020671:Posterior Horn Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D027861:Prunus / Q000737:chemistry*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D005557:Formaldehyde; D000678:Amygdalin