Ameliorative effects of escin on neuropathic pain induced by chronic constriction injury of sciatic nerve.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY RELEVANCE Escin is a natural mixture of triterpene saponins extracted from the seeds of Aesculus wilsonii Rehd. and has been reported to possess the therapeutic effects against neuropathic pain (NP). However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY The present study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects and explore the underlying mechanisms of escin on rats of NP induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of sciatic nerve. MATERIALS AND METHODS Rats were treated with escin (7, 14, and 28 mg/kg, i.g.) daily from the third day after the surgery (day 0) for consecutive 14 days. Regular behavior and thermal threshold were measured on days 0, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14. Investigations into mechanisms involved measurement of inflammatory factors and biochemical factors in dorsal root ganglion (DRG). Inflammatory pain responses and nerve injuries were induced by the CCI model. Tonic pain model and acute inflammatory model induced by formalin or carrageenan were established to evaluated the pharmacological effects of escin on acute inflammatory pain. Corresponding behaviors were monitored and relevant gene expression such as c-fos, mu opioid receptor (MOR) and KCNK1 were detected by qRT-PCR. Investigate the neuroprotective effects of escin on PC12 cell injury induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Cell morphology was observed under inverted microscope and neuroprotective effect of escin on cell activity was assessed by MTT assay. RESULTS Escin could widen thermal threshold, downregulate the concentration of inflammatory factors like tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1β, suppress the gene expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), decrease the level of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and nerve growth factor (NGF) remarkably. In addition, escin significantly lowered the duration of licking, numbers of flinches and increase in paw edema, showing great therapeutic effects on inflammatory pain responses. Moreover, the activity of injured PC12 cells was significantly improved after escin administrated. CONCLUSION Escin exerted the ameliorative effects on NP induced by CCI which may be related to downregulating the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, suppressing TLR-4/NF-κB signal pathway, thereafter decreasing the level of GFAP and NGF.