title: Attenuation of neuropathic pain by saikosaponin a in a rat model of chronic constriction injury.
abstract: Despite immense advances in the treatment strategies, the effective treatment of patients suffering from neuropathic pain remains challenging. Saikosaponin a possesses anti-inflammatory activity. However, the role of saikosaponin a in neuropathic pain is still unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of saikosaponin a on neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain was induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve in rats. After CCI, rats were administered saikosaponin a (6.25, 12.50 and 25.00 mg/kg intraperitoneal, once daily) for 14 days. Mechanical withdrawal threshold and thermal withdrawal latency were assessed before surgery and on days 1, 3, 7, and 14 after CCI. Our results showed that CCI significantly decreased mechanical withdrawal threshold and thermal withdrawal latency on days 1, 3, 7 and 14, as compared with sham groups, however, saikosaponin a reversed this effects. In addition, saikosaponin a inhibited CCI-induced the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-2 in spinal cord. Western blot analysis demonstrated that saikosaponin a reduced the elevated expression of p-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and NF-κB in the spinal cord induced by CCI. These results suggest that saikosaponin a could effectively attenuate neuropathic pain in CCI rats by inhibiting the activation of p38 MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways in spinal cord.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, 324#, Jing Wu Wei Qi Road, Jinan, 250021, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Dedong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Mengyuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003250:Constriction; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D009828:Oleanolic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012503:Saponins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000293:injuries*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D012503:Saponins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D009828:Oleanolic Acid; C025759:saikosaponin D
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