Effects of volatile oil from Acori graminei Rhizoma on glial fibrillary acidic protein, c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase and tumor necrosis factor-α expressions in the spinal cord dorsal horn of the inflammatory pain rats / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the influence of volatile oil from Acori graminei Rhizoma (VOA) on expressions of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), c-Jun N-terminal protein kainse (JNK) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the spinal cord dorsal horn of imflammatory pain rats. Methods Totally 36 male SD rats were randomly divided into control group (control), sham-operated group (sham), complete Freund' s adjuvant group (CFA), 5 g/(kg·d) low dose VOA+CFA group (VOA-L+CFA), 10 g/(kg·d) medium dose VOA + CFA group (VOA-M+CFA) and 20 g/(kg·d) high dose VOA + CFA group (VOA-H+CFA). All animals were sacrificed immediately after continuous gavage administration for 22 days. The expressions of GFAP, JNK and TNF-α in the spinal cord dorsal horn of rats in each group were detected by immunofluorescence and Western blotting methods. Results The present results showed that the positive expressions of GFAP, JNK and TNF-α in the spinal cord dorsal horn of rats increased significantly in the CFA group, when compared to the control and sham groups (P < 0. 01). The expressions of GFAP, JNK and TNF-α in the spinal cord dorsal horn of rats with VOA treatment reduced in the dose-dependent manner, when compared to the CFA group, the positive expressions of GFAP, JNK and TNF-α reduced significantly in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord of the VOA-H+CFA group (P<0. 05, P<0. 01). Conclusion VOA reduces the expressions of GFAP, JNK and TNF-α in the spinal cord dorsal horn of rats of CFA-induced inflammatory pain.