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. 2016 Apr 26:60:30849.
doi: 10.3402/fnr.v60.30849. eCollection 2016.

Nutmeg oil alleviates chronic inflammatory pain through inhibition of COX-2 expression and substance P release in vivo

Wei Kevin Zhang  1 , Shan-Shan Tao  1 , Ting-Ting Li  1 , Yu-Sang Li  1 , Xiao-Jun Li  1 , He-Bin Tang  2 , Ren-Huai Cong  3 , Fang-Li Ma  4 , Chu-Jun Wan  5
Affiliations

Nutmeg oil alleviates chronic inflammatory pain through inhibition of COX-2 expression and substance P release in vivo

Wei Kevin Zhang et al. Food Nutr Res. .

Abstract

Background: Chronic pain, or sometimes referred to as persistent pain, reduces the life quality of patients who are suffering from chronic diseases such as inflammatory diseases, cancer and diabetes. Hence, herbal medicines draw many attentions and have been shown effective in the treatment or relief of pain.

Methods and results: Here in this study, we used the CFA-injected rats as a sustainable pain model to test the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect of nutmeg oil, a spice flavor additive to beverages and baked goods produced from the seed of Myristica fragrans tree.

Conclusions: We have demonstrated that nutmeg oil could potentially alleviate the CFA-injection induced joint swelling, mechanical allodynia and heat hyperanalgesia of rats through inhibition of COX-2 expression and blood substance P level, which made it possible for nutmeg oil to be a potential chronic pain reliever.

Keywords: COX-2; allodynia; chronic pain; nutmeg oil; substance P.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
(A) Schedule of the animal experiment. Vertical bars, assessments and tests at different time point (indicated above); dashed arrows (in gray), different treatments (frequency: daily). (B) Representative graph of both hind paws of a rat during the pain score test. (a) Toes; (b) anterior sole; (c) posterior sole; (d) heel. The color of all four areas of the right paw was deeper than the left paw and hence scored 4 in this case.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
GC–MS analysis of the nutmeg oil. The detailed information of chemical composition was included in Table 1.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The levels of joint swelling in different groups of rats. (A) Representative graphs of left hind paws at different time points under different treatments. (B) Summary of the joint swelling of the left hind paws (presented as percentage of the right paw for each rat). CFA, the complete Freund's adjuvant; diclo, sodium diclofenac; NOlow, low concentration of nutmeg oil; NOhigh, high concentration of nutmeg oil. *, **, *** represent P<0.05, 0.01, 0.001, respectively. Data were presented as mean±SD.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Pain behavioral tests of different groups of rats at different time points under different treatments. (A) Summary of the results of pain score test. (B) Summary of the results of touch pain threshold measurement. (C) Summary of the results of heat pain threshold measurement. Data were presented as mean±SD.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Nutmeg oil alleviates pain via inhibition of COX-2 expression and reduction of blood Substance P level. (A) Representative graphs of COX-2 expression in CFA-injected area of rats at different time points under different treatments. Scale bar: 100 µm. (B) Summary of COX-2 expression. *, significantly different from control group; †, not different from control group; #, ###, significantly different from CFA group with P <0.05, 0.001, respectively. (C) Summary of substance P level in blood at different time points under different treatments. ***, significantly different from control group with P<0.001. Data were presented as mean±SEM.
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