Abstract
We previously demonstrated that a single injection of diluted bee venom (DBV) temporarily
alleviates thermal hyperalgesia, but not mechanical allodynia, in neuropathic rats.
The present study was designed to determine whether repetitive injection of DBV produces
more potent analgesic effects on neuropathy-induced nociception and whether those
effects are associated with increased neuronal activity in the locus coeruleus (LC)
and with the suppression of spinal NMDA receptor NR1 subunit phosphorylation (pNR1).
DBV (.25 mg/kg) was administered subcutaneously twice a day for 2 weeks beginning
on day 15 post-chronic constrictive injury surgery. Pain responses were examined and
potential changes in LC Fos expression and spinal pNR1 expression were determined.
Repetitive DBV administration significantly reduced mechanical allodynia, as well
as thermal hyperalgesia. The activity of LC noradrenergic neurons was increased and
spinal pNR1 expression was significantly suppressed by repetitive DBV as compared
with those of vehicle or single DBV injection. These suppressive effects of repetitive
DBV on neuropathic pain and spinal pNR1 were prevented by intrathecal pretreatment
of idazoxan, an alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonist. These results indicate that repetitive
DBV produces potent analgesic effects on neuropathic pain and this is associated with
the activation of the LC noradrenergic system and with a reduction in spinal pNR1.
Perspective
The results of current study demonstrate that repetitive administration of DBV significantly
suppresses neuropathic pain. Furthermore, this study provides mechanistic information
that repetitive treatment of DBV can produce more potent analgesic effect than single
DBV treatment, indicating a potential novel strategy for the management of chronic
pain.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 05, 2012
Accepted:
October 26,
2011
Received in revised form:
October 14,
2011
Received:
May 12,
2011
Footnotes
Supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2011-0016306). This research was also supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (No. 2005-0049404).
Drs Kang and Roh contributed equally to this study.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Bee Venom Therapy: Neuro Therapeutic Benefits Besides Pain AmeliorationThe Journal of PainVol. 13Issue 6
- PreviewI read with great interest the recent article by Kang et al1 in a recent issue of your esteemed journal. The article is highly thought provoking. Interestingly, the past few years have seen the emergence of bee venom as an agent with significant neuro- therapeutic benefits besides its role in pain amelioration.
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