title: Antinociceptive activity of Rhoifoline A from the ethanol extract of Zanthoxylum nitidum in mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Antinociceptive activity of Rhoifoline A (RA), a benzophenanthridine alkaloid obtained from the ethanol extract of Zanthoxylum nitidum, was evaluated in mice using chemical and thermal models of nociception.
  
  
  METHODS
  RA was evaluated on anti-nociceptive activity in mice using chemical and thermal models of nociception.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RA administered intraperitoneally at doses of 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg exhibited significant inhibitions on chemical nociception induced by intraperitoneal acetic acid and subplantar formalin, and on thermal nociception in the tail-flick test and the hot plate test. RA neither significantly impaired motor coordination in the rotarod test nor did spontaneous locomotion in the open-field test. RA did not enhance the pentobarbital sodium induced sleep time. These results indicated that the observed antinociceptive activity of RA was unrelated to sedation or motor abnormality. Core body temperature measurement showed that RA did not affect temperature during a 2-hour period. Furthermore, RA-induced antinociception in the hot plate test was insensitive to naloxone or glibenclamide but significantly antagonized by L-NAME, methylene blue and nimodipine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Therefore, it is reasonable that the analgesic mechanism of RA possibly involved the NO-cGMP signaling pathway and L-type Ca(2+) channels.
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Resources and Environment Science, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China; Institue of Characteristic Medicinal Resource of Ethnic Minorities, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China. Electronic address: hujiang@ustc.edu.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Jiangang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Qingjie
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D053119:Benzophenanthridines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005557:Formaldehyde; D006358:Hot Temperature; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D018517:Plant Roots; D045442:Rotarod Performance Test; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry; D032106:Zanthoxylum
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D053119:Benzophenanthridines; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012997:Solvents; C000590838:rhoifoline A; D005557:Formaldehyde; D000431:Ethanol; D019342:Acetic Acid
keywords: Antinociception; Benzophenanthridine alkaloids; L-type Ca(2+) channels; NO-cGMP; Rhoifoline A; Zanthoxylum nitidum