Nutmeg oil alleviates chronic inflammatory pain through inhibition of COX-2 expression and substance P release in vivo.
BACKGROUND
Chronic pain, or sometimes referred to as persistent pain, reduces the life quality of patients who are suffering from chronic diseases such as inflammatory diseases, cancer and diabetes. Hence, herbal medicines draw many attentions and have been shown effective in the treatment or relief of pain.


RESULTS
Here in this study, we used the CFA-injected rats as a sustainable pain model to test the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect of nutmeg oil, a spice flavor additive to beverages and baked goods produced from the seed of Myristica fragrans tree.


CONCLUSIONS
We have demonstrated that nutmeg oil could potentially alleviate the CFA-injection induced joint swelling, mechanical allodynia and heat hyperanalgesia of rats through inhibition of COX-2 expression and blood substance P level, which made it possible for nutmeg oil to be a potential chronic pain reliever.
Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, PR China.
Wei Kevin
WK
Zhang
Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, PR China.
Shan-Shan
SS
Tao
Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, PR China.
Ting-Ting
TT
Li
Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, PR China.
Yu-Sang
YS
Li
Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, PR China.
Xiao-Jun
XJ
Li
Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, PR China; hbtang2006@mail.scuec.edu.cn.
He-Bin
HB
Tang
Functional Oil Laboratory Associated by Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Infinitus (China) Company Ltd., Guangzhou, PR China.
Ren-Huai
RH
Cong
Functional Oil Laboratory Associated by Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Infinitus (China) Company Ltd., Guangzhou, PR China; hbtang2006@mail.scuec.edu.cn.
Fang-Li
FL
Ma
Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan, PR China.
Chu-Jun
CJ
Wan
COX-2; allodynia; chronic pain; nutmeg oil; substance P