Protective Effect of Ethanol Extracts of Hericium erinaceus on Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Neuropathic Pain in Rats.

We investigated the effects of Hericium erinaceus (HEE) on alloxan induced diabetic neuropathic pain in laboratory rats. Alloxan induced diabetic rats were administered orally HEE. After 6 weeks of treatments, treatment with HEE 40 mg/kg in diabetic animals showed significant increase in pain threshold and paw withdrawal threshold and significant decrease in serum glucose and urine glucose. We also observed a significant increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), Lipid peroxidation (LPO), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, glutathione reductase (GR) activity, catalase (CAT) activity, Na(+)K(+)ATPase activity, and glutathione S transferase (GST) activity along with significant decreased levels of glutathione (GSH) content in diabetic rats. The total antioxidant status (TAOS) in the HEE-treated groups was significantly lower than that in the alloxan-treated group. HEE can offer pain relief in diabetic neuropathic pain. The improvement in diabetic state after HEE treatment along with the antioxidant activity could be the probable way by which it had alleviated diabetic neuropathy.