title: Protective effects of resveratrol on autologous nucleus pulposus model of radiculopathy.
abstract: Nucleus pulposus (NP) has been suggested to trigger an autoimmune response if exposed to the immune system, which plays a key role in neuropathic pain. Therefore, appropriate suppression of inflammation is a key factor for treating the radiculopathy caused by intervertebral disk (IVD) degeneration. Resveratrol, a key component of red wine, has been suggested to exhibit anti-inflammatory propertiesin vitroandin vivo. However, the effects of resveratrol on NP-mediated painin vivohave not been studied. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether resveratrol may be useful in treating NP-mediated pain in an autologous NP model of radiculopathy. A total of 36 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated randomly into sham (group I), saline-treated (group II) and resveratrol-treated (group III) groups. Animal behavior in response to non-noxious mechanical stimulation with von Frey filaments was compared at days 0 (baseline), 3, 7, 14 and 21 following surgery. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) were assessed at days 7 and 14. The data showed that resveratrol exhibited an anti-inflammatory effect on the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. Compared with group II, the expression of TNF-α and IL-1 was significantly decreased at each time point in group III. In addition, resveratrol significantly reduced pain behavior triggered by the application of NP tissue on the dorsal root ganglion for up to 14 days. These data suggest that resveratrol has potential for the treatment of NP-mediated pain, indicating a potential clinical application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The 175th Hospital of PLA, Southeast Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The 175th Hospital of PLA, Southeast Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The 175th Hospital of PLA, Southeast Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yongzhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The 175th Hospital of PLA, Southeast Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The 175th Hospital of PLA, Southeast Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The 175th Hospital of PLA, Southeast Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chengwu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The 175th Hospital of PLA, Southeast Hospital of Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qingfang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ao
keywords: anti-inflammatory; nucleus pulposus-mediated back pain; radiculopathy; resveratrol