Effects of baicalin on diabetic neuropathic pain involving transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 in the dorsal root ganglia of rats.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is the most common complication of diabetes mellitus and leads to sensory symptoms, including diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP). DNP is a major public health problem because it has a considerable impact on life quality of diabetes mellitus patients. Therefore, development of novel effective analgesics for DNP relief and treatment is warranted. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) has a crucial role in nociceptive transmission under pathological forms of pain. Baicalin is a flavonoid compound extracted from a medicinal herb, Huang Qin, it possesses antioxidant properties and has an analgesic effect on nitroglycerin-induced migraine in rats and neuropathic pain in spinal nerve ligation rats. However, the effects of baicalin on DNP are unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the effects of baicalin on DNP. Our data show that a single dose of baicalin (40 µg/kg) had a transient analgesic effect on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced DNP rats. Moreover, cumulative injection of baicalin prevented the development of STZ-induced DNP in rats in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, baicalin dose-dependently suppressed the expression of TRPV1 in dorsal root ganglia of STZ-induced DNP rats. Therefore, the analgesic role of baicalin in DNP probably occurred through TRPV1. Baicalin may play an important analgesic role in DNP and might serve as a potential compound in clinical treatment and prevention of DNP.

[Efficacy observation of treating diabetic nephropathy by shenshuaining granule combined telmisartan tablet].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Shenshuaining Granule (SG) combined telmisartan on serum creatinine (SCr) levels and urinary albumin contents in diabetic nephropathy (DN) patients, and to explore its efficacy. METHODS: Totally 204 DN patients were recruited, and further assigned to 3 groups, i.e., the early DN group, the clinical stage of DN with normal renal function group, the clinical stage of DN with insufficient renal function group. Patients in the same group were randomly allocated to the telmisartan treatment group, the SG treatment group, and the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group, 68 in each group. Patients in the telmisartan treatment group took telmisartan tablet, 80 mg per day, once daily. Those in the SG treatment group took SG, 5 g each time, 3 times per day. Those in the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group took telmisartan tablet (80 mg per day, once daily) and SG (5 g each time, 3 times per day). The therapeutic course for all was 3 successive months. SCr levels, serum urea nitrogen (BUN),24 h urine microalbumin (24 h U-MA) were detected before and after treatment. Results In three different treatment groups, 24 h U-MA decreased after treatment in the telmisartan treatment group; SCr and BUN decreased after treatment in the SG treatment group; and 24 h U-MA, SCr and BUN decreased after treatment in the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group (P<0.05). In the clinical stage of DN with insufficient renal function group, SCr obviously increased after treatment in the telmisartan treatment group (P <0. 05). In the 3 DN stages, SCr and 24 h U-MA obviously decreased in the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group, when compared with the telmisartan treatment group and the SG treatment group (P<0.05). Compared with the telmisartan treatment group, SCr and BUN obviously decreased in the SG treatment group, but 24 h U-MA quantitation obviously increased (P<0.05). BUN obviously decreased in the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group (P<0. 05). CONCLUSION: The combination of SG and telmisartan could decrease urinary albumin, and stabilize SCr levels.