Astragalin induces autophagy of astrocytes in anterior cingulate cortex of inflammatory pain mice / 中国病理生理杂志

ABSTRACT

AIM:To investigate the effects of astragalin(AST)on activation status of astrocytes and the ex-pression level of autophagy-related proteins in the cortex of the anterior cingulate cortex of mice with a complete Freund's adjuvant(CFA)-induced inflammatory pain model.METHODS:Twenty-four 6-month-old male C57BL/6 mice were ran-domly divided into four groups:control group,saline group,CFA model group and CFA+60 mg/kg AST administration group,and six mice in each group.Mice in the AST administration group received 60 mg/kg AST by intraperitoneal injec-tion on a body weight basis for 21 d.The paw withdrawal threshold in each group of mice was evaluated by the von Frey test.The expression levels of autophagy-related factors LC3,p62,ATG12 and beclin-1,and astrocyte activation were de-tected by multiplex immunofluorescence staining in the anterior cingulate cortex of mice in each group.Western blot was used to measure the levels of autophagy-related proteins LC3,p62,ATG12 and beclin-1 in the anterior cingulate cortex of mice in each group.RESULTS:Behavioural tests showed that AST significantly increased mechanical pain thresholds in CFA mice(P＜0.05).The results from multiple immunofluorescent staining showed that AST significantly increased the fluorescence intensity of LC3(P＜0.01),ATG12(P＜0.01)and beclin-1(P＜0.05),attenuated the fluorescence intensi-ty of p62(P＜0.05),and inhibited the activation of astrocytes in the anterior cingulate cortex of CFA mice.Western blot results further confirmed that AST significantly increased the expressions of LC3(P＜0.01),ATG12(P＜0.01),beclin-1(P＜0.01),and decreased the expression of p62(P＜0.05)in the anterior cingulate cortex of CFA mice.CONCLU-SION:AST relieves CFA-induced inflammatory pain of mice,and its analgesic mechanism may be related to the inhibi-tion of activation of cortical astrocytes in the anterior cingulate cortex and the promotion of autophagy in CFA mice.