aconitine and Peripheral-Nervous-System-Diseases

Processed aconite root (PA, the root of Aconitum carmichaeli, Ranunculaceae) is a crude drug used in traditional Chinese or Japanese kampo medicine to generate heat in the body and to treat pain associated with coldness. Oxaliplatin (L-OHP) is a platinum-based anticancer drug that frequently causes acute and chronic peripheral neuropathies, including cold and mechanical hyperalgesia.. We investigated the effects of PA on L-OHP-induced peripheral neuropathies and identified the active ingredient within PA extract.. L-OHP was intraperitoneally injected into mice, and PA boiled water extract was orally administered. Cold and mechanical hyperalgesia were evaluated using the acetone test and the von Frey filament method, respectively. Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were isolated from normal mice and cultured with L-OHP with or without PA extract. Cell viability and neurite elongation were evaluated.. PA extract significantly attenuated cold and mechanical hyperalgesia induced by L-OHP in mice. In cultured DRG neurons, L-OHP reduced cell viability and neurite elongation in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with PA extract significantly alleviated the L-OHP-induced reduction of neurite elongation, while the cytotoxicity of L-OHP was not affected. Using activity-guided fractionation, we isolated neoline from PA extract as the active ingredient. Neoline significantly alleviated L-OHP-induced reduction of neurite elongation in cultured DRG neurons in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, subcutaneous injection of neoline attenuated cold and mechanical hyperalgesia in L-OHP-treated mice. PA extract and neoline did not show sedation and motor impairment.. The present study indicates that PA and its active ingredient neoline are promising agents to alleviate L-OHP-induced neuropathic pain.

Topics: Aconitine; Aconitum; Analgesics; Animals; Hyperalgesia; Male; Mice; Molecular Structure; Organoplatinum Compounds; Oxaliplatin; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases; Phytotherapy

A single dose of aconitine (0.6 mg/kg), the principal constituent of aconite, was administered intraperitoneally in order to evaluate its toxic effects on the visual system of a rabbit model. The typical pattern in which the alteration in the visual evoked potential occurred after an aconitine injection consisted of a delay in the onset and peak latency, and a reduction in the amplitude. Histopathologically, there was damage to the myelin sheath of the visual pathway, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. These findings suggest that a toxic dose of aconitine may cause myelo-optic neuropathy in rabbits.

Topics: Aconitine; Animals; Demyelinating Diseases; Evoked Potentials, Visual; Optic Nerve Diseases; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases; Rabbits; Spinal Cord Diseases