Ameliorative potential of Butea monosperma on chronic constriction injury of sciatic nerve induced neuropathic pain in rats

• Published in: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2012-12, Vol.84 (4), p.1091-1104
• Main Authors: Thiagarajan, Venkata R K, Shanmugam, Palanichamy, Krishnan, Uma M, Muthuraman, Arunachalam, Singh, Nirmal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; anti-oxidant; antioxidante; Butea - chemistry; Butea monosperma; calcium; chronic constriction injury; Chronic Disease; Constriction; cálcio; Disease Models, Animal; Female; glutatião reduzido; injúria de constrição crônica; Male; MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES; Neuralgia - drug therapy; Neuralgia - etiology; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Rats; Rats, Wistar; reduced glutathione; Sciatic Neuropathy - complications; substância reativa ao ácido tiobarbitúrico; thiobarbituric acid reactive substance
• ISSN: 0001-3765; 1678-2690; 1678-2690
• DOI: 10.1590/S0001-37652012005000063

The present study was designed to investigate the ameliorative role of ethanolic extract from leaves of Butea monosperma in chronic constriction injury (CCI) of sciatic nerve induced neuropathic pain in rats. Hot plate, acetone drop, paw pressure, Von Frey hair and tail immersion tests were performed to assess the degree of thermal hyperalgesia, cold chemical allodynia, mechanical hyperalgesia & allodynia in the left hind paw and tail thermal hyperalgesia. Further on, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), reduced glutathione (GSH) and total calcium levels were estimated to assess the biochemical changes in the sciatic nerve tissue. Histopathological changes were also observed in the sciatic nerve tissue. Ethanolic extract of Butea monosperma leaves and pregabalin (serving as positive control) were administered for 14 consecutive days starting from the day of surgery. CCI resulted in significant changes in behavioural and biochemical parameters. Pretreatment of Butea monosperma attenuated CCI induced development of behavioural, biochemical and histopathological alterations in a dose dependent manner, which is comparable to that of pregabalin pretreated group. These findings may be attributed to its potential anti-oxidative, neuroprotective and calcium channel modulatory actions of Butea monosperma.