title: Dragon's blood inhibits chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain responses by blocking the synthesis and release of substance P in rats.
abstract: As a traditional Chinese medicine, dragon's blood (DB) is widely used in treating various pains for thousands of years due to its potent anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. In the present study, we observed that intragastric administration of DB at dosages of 0.14, 0.56, and 1.12 g/kg potently inhibited paw edema, hyperalgesia, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression, or preprotachykinin-A mRNA expression in carrageenan-inflamed or sciatic nerve-injured (chronic constriction injury) rats, respectively. A short-term (15 s or 10 min) pre-exposure of cultured rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons to DB (0.3, 3, and 30 µg/ml) or its component cochinchinenin B (CB; 0.1, 1, and 10 µM) blocked capsaicin-evoked increases in both the intracellular calcium ion concentration and the substance P release. Moreover, a long-term (180 min) exposure of cultured rat DRG neurons to DB or CB significantly attenuated bradykinin-induced substance P release. These findings indicate that DB exerts anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects by blocking the synthesis and release of substance P through inhibition of COX-2 protein induction and intracellular calcium ion concentration. Therefore, DB may serve as a promising potent therapeutic agent for treatment of chronic pain, and its effective component CB might partly contribute to anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Sang
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun-Xian
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mei-Mei
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiao-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: He-Bin
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D001920:Bradykinin / Q000494:pharmacology; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000494:pharmacology; D002351:Carrageenan; D002599:Chalcone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D007249:Inflammation / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000293:injuries; D013373:Substance P / Q000378:metabolism; D015320:Tachykinins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011498:Protein Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D015320:Tachykinins; C475447:cochinchinenin; C044206:preprotachykinin; D013373:Substance P; D002599:Chalcone; D002351:Carrageenan; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C489691:Ptgs2 protein, rat; C525191:dragon's blood; D002211:Capsaicin; D001920:Bradykinin