Modern Research Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, Shanxi, China; The Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, China; The Key Laboratory of Effective Substances Research and Utilization in TCM of Shanxi Province, China.
Modern Research Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, Shanxi, China; The Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, China; The Key Laboratory of Effective Substances Research and Utilization in TCM of Shanxi Province, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2023 Dec 5;317:116762. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2023.116762. Epub 2023 Jun 8.
Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG) is a perennial herb with anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant activities, which is traditionally used to treat inflammation of respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract, abdominal cramps, bacterial and viral infections. Clinically, it is often used to treat inflammatory-related diseases. Research has shown that the ethanol extract of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SGE) has anti-inflammatory effect, and its main components baicalin and baicalein have analgesic effects. However, the mechanism of SGE in relieving inflammatory pain has not been deeply studied.
This study aimed to evaluate the analgesic effect of SGE on complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammatory pain rats, and to investigate whether its effect on relieving inflammatory pain is associated with regulation of P2X3 receptor.
The analgesic effects of SGE on CFA-induced inflammatory pain rats were evaluated by measuring mechanical pain threshold, thermal pain threshold, and motor coordination ability. The mechanisms of SGE in relieving inflammatory pain were explored by detecting inflammatory factors levels, NF-κB, COX-2 and P2X3 expression, and were further verified by addition of P2X3 receptor agonist (α, β me-ATP).
Our results revealed that SGE can notably increase the mechanical pain threshold and thermal pain threshold of CFA-induced inflammatory pain rats, and markedly alleviate the pathological damage in DRG. SGE could suppress the release of inflammatory factors including IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and restrain the expression of NF-κB, COX-2 and P2X3. Moreover, α, β me-ATP further exacerbated the inflammatory pain of CFA-induced rats, while SGE could markedly raise the pain thresholds and relieve inflammatory pain. SGE could attenuate the pathological damage, inhibit P2X3 expression, inhibit the elevation of inflammatory factors caused by α, β me-ATP. SGE can also inhibit NF-κB and ERK1/2 activation caused by α, β me-ATP, and inhibit the mRNA expression of P2X3, COX-2, NF-κB, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in DRG of rats induced by CFA coupled with α, β me-ATP.
In summary, our research indicated that SGE could alleviate CFA-induced inflammatory pain by suppression of P2X3 receptor.
黄芩（SBG）是一种多年生草本植物，具有抗炎、抗菌和抗氧化活性，传统上用于治疗呼吸道和胃肠道炎症、腹痛、细菌和病毒感染。临床上，它常被用于治疗炎症相关疾病。研究表明，黄芩乙醇提取物（SGE）具有抗炎作用，其主要成分黄芩苷和黄芩素具有镇痛作用。然而，SGE 缓解炎症性疼痛的机制尚未得到深入研究。
本研究旨在评价 SGE 对完全弗氏佐剂（CFA）诱导的炎性痛大鼠的镇痛作用，并探讨其缓解炎性痛的作用是否与调节 P2X3 受体有关。
通过测量机械痛阈、热痛阈和运动协调能力，评价 SGE 对 CFA 诱导的炎性痛大鼠的镇痛作用。通过检测炎症因子水平、NF-κB、COX-2 和 P2X3 的表达，探讨 SGE 缓解炎性痛的机制，并通过加入 P2X3 受体激动剂（α，β me-ATP）进一步验证。
结果表明，SGE 能显著提高 CFA 诱导的炎性痛大鼠的机械痛阈和热痛阈，明显减轻 DRG 的病理损伤。SGE 能抑制炎症因子的释放，包括白细胞介素-1β、白细胞介素-6、肿瘤坏死因子-α，并抑制 NF-κB、COX-2 和 P2X3 的表达。此外，α，β me-ATP 进一步加重了 CFA 诱导的大鼠炎性痛，而 SGE 则能显著提高痛阈，缓解炎性痛。SGE 能减轻病理损伤，抑制 P2X3 表达，抑制 α，β me-ATP 引起的炎症因子升高。SGE 还能抑制 NF-κB 和 ERK1/2 的激活，以及 CFA 联合 α，β me-ATP 诱导的大鼠 DRG 中 P2X3、COX-2、NF-κB、白细胞介素-1β、白细胞介素-6 和肿瘤坏死因子-α的 mRNA 表达。
综上所述，本研究表明，SGE 可通过抑制 P2X3 受体减轻 CFA 诱导的炎性痛。
