The analgesic activities of total alkaloids of the ethnic medicine Cynanchum komarovii Al. Iljinski

Polygonum Cuspidatum Alcohol Extract Exerts Analgesic Effects via the MAPK/ERK Signaling Pathway

Objective

Traditional Chinese medicine Polygonum cuspidatum (PC) has significant effects on reducing pain. In this study, we investigated the analgesic effects of the alcohol extract of PC on three types of inflammatory pain and explored its mechanism.

Methods

Potential targets for the analgesic effects of the main active components of PC alcohol extract were screened by network pharmacology and molecular docking. Three different inflammatory pain mouse models (acetic acid twisting, formalin foot swelling, and xylene ear swelling) were used to study the analgesic effects of PC. The expression of latent signaling pathways in L4-6 spinal cord tissues in formalin foot swelling mice was evaluated using real-time qPCR (RT-qPCR), Western blot (WB), and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses.

Results

Network pharmacology analysis shows that PC analgesic mechanism is related to the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway. The five main active components of PC have good docking ability with JNK and p38. PC alcohol extract significantly reduced the pain behavior and alleviated inflammatory reactions in three mouse models, inhibited the mRNA and protein phosphorylation levels of JNK, ERK, p38, and CREB in spinal cord tissues.

Conclusion

PC alcohol extract can inhibit inflammation and alleviate pain, which is related to its inhibition of the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in spinal cord. Thus, PC alcohol extract is a promising candidate for pain treatment.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Vincetoxicum mongolicum (Apocynaceae), a perennial medicinal herb

Vincetoxicum mongolicum Maxim. (1876), is a perennial medicinal herb, widely distributed in the Loess Plateau of China. Here, we sequenced, assembled, and annotated the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of V. mongolicum, and compared the highly variable gene regions and phylogenetic positions between V. mongolicum and other related species. Results showed that the complete cp genome of V. mongolicum was 160,157 bp in length, containing a large single copy (LSC) region of 91,263 bp, a pair of inverted repeats (IR) region of 23,892 bp, and a small single copy (SSC) region of 21,110 bp. The GC content accounts for 37.8%, and we annotated 131 single genes, which include 86 protein-coding genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 37 tRNA genes. By comparing and analyzing the variable region of the cp gene of V. mongolicum and other Vincetoxicum, we found that the variable sequences of rpoC1-rpoB, ycf4-cemA, ndhF, ndhF-rpl32, and rpl32-ccsA fragments were highly significant, which could be targeted as the DNA barcodes for evidence of V. mongolicum and its relatives in Apocynaceae. Maximum-likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree analysis elucidated that V. mongolicum was sister to V. pycnostelma with strong support. Our results provide useful information for future phylogenetic studies and plastid super-barcodes of the family Apocynaceae.