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Levo-Tetrahydropalmatine Attenuates Bone Cancer Pain by Inhibiting Microglial Cells Activation
Mao-Yin Zhang1, Yue-Peng Liu2, Lian-Yi Zhang1
1Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, 99 Huaihai West Road, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221000, China.
Objective:
The present study is to investigate the analgesic roles of L-THP in rats with bone cancer pain caused by tumor cell implantation (TCI).
Methods:
Thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia were measured at different time points before and after operation. L-THP (20, 40, and 60 mg/kg) were administrated intragastrically at early phase of postoperation (before pain appearance) and later phase of postoperation (after pain appearance), respectively. The concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-18 in spinal cord were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Western blot was used to test the activation of astrocytes and microglial cells in spinal cord after TCI treatment.
Results:
TCI treatment induced significant thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia. Administration of L-THP at high doses significantly prevented and/or reversed bone cancer-related pain behaviors. Besides, TCI-induced activation of microglial cells and the increased levels of TNF-α and IL-18 were inhibited by L-THP administration. However, L-THP failed to affect TCI-induced astrocytes activation and IL-1β increase.
Conclusion:
This study suggests the possible clinical utility of L-THP in the treatment of bone cancer pain. The analgesic effects of L-THP on bone cancer pain maybe underlying the inhibition of microglial cells activation and proinflammatory cytokines increase.
