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Anti-nociceptive effect of patchouli alcohol: Involving attenuation of cyclooxygenase 2 and modulation of mu-opioid receptor

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Abstract

Objective

To explore the anti-nociceptive effect of patchouli alcohol (PA), the essential oil isolated from Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Bent, and determine the mechanism in molecular levels.

Methods

The acetic acid-induced writhing test and formalin-induced plantar injection test in mice were employed to confirm the effect in vivo. Intracellular calcium ion was imaged to verify PA on mu-opioid receptor (MOR). Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) and MOR of mouse brain were expressed for determination of PA’s target. Cellular experiments were carried out to find out COX2 and MOR expression induced by PA.

Results

PA significantly reduced latency period of visceral pain and writhing induced by acetic acid saline solution (P<0.01) and allodynia after intra-plantar formalin (P<0.01) in mice. PA also up-regulated COX2 mRNA and protein (P<0.05) with a down-regulation of MOR (P<0.05) both in in vivo and in vitro experiments, which devote to the analgesic effect of PA. A decrease in the intracellular calcium level (P<0.05) induced by PA may play an important role in its anti-nociceptive effect. PA showed the characters of enhancing the MOR expression and reducing the intracellular calcium ion similar to opioid effect.

Conclusions

Both COX2 and MOR are involved in the mechanism of PA’s anti-nociceptive effect, and the up-regulation of the receptor expression and the inhibition of intracellular calcium are a new perspective to PA’s effect on MOR.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the colleagues in our laboratory for their kind help and discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Xuan Yu, Xin-pei Wang, Xiao-jin Yan, Jing-fei Jiang, Dong-ming Xing, Yue-ying Guo & Li-jun Du

  2. School of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Fan Lei

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  1. Xuan Yu
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  2. Xin-pei Wang
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Correspondence to Li-jun Du.

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81374006 and No. 81073092) and the Special Foundation for New Drug Innovation of Tsinghua University (No. 20142000077), China

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Yu, X., Wang, Xp., Yan, Xj. et al. Anti-nociceptive effect of patchouli alcohol: Involving attenuation of cyclooxygenase 2 and modulation of mu-opioid receptor. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 25, 454–461 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-017-2952-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-017-2952-4

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