Abstract
Pain represents a major clinical problem and one which has exercised generations of healthcare professionals. Earthworms are used as a traditional Chinese medicine, and have been applied pharmacologically and clinically since a long time in China. However, the analgesic effects of earthworm extract (EE) are seldom studied. Hence, we evaluated the analgesic effects of EE in mice. The obtained data showed that EE increased pain threshold and exhibited peripheral but not central analgesic effects in mice; evidenced by increased inhibition ratio in acetic acid writhing test and formalin test, whereas only slight increase in inhibition ratio in hot plate test and tail immersion test. In addition, EE decreased serum norepinephrine (NE), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS) concentration, similar to other analgesic drugs like morphine and aspirin. In a nutshell, the obtained data have demonstrated that EE has peripheral analgesic properties and could be used as a promising analgesic drug.
Highlights
Great progress has been made in improving human health, pain still dwells as the most cumbersome ailment in today’s hectic society
Many studies have uncovered the neuronal mechanisms of pain and have shown that both peripheral and central nociceptive systems contribute to pain during inflammation and nerve injury [27]
To alleviate the pain symptoms, medications such as morphine, diclofenac sodium, and cannabinoids have been developed according to their action target [28,29]
Summary
Great progress has been made in improving human health, pain still dwells as the most cumbersome ailment in today’s hectic society. Pain is more or less a permanent feature of their lives and has a profound impact on their quality of life. Management of pain is imperative so that suffering is minimized as much as possible. Opioids and NSAIDs are the prevalent pain medications used to alleviate the symptoms [1]. These pain medications have excellent analgesic effects, the array of adverse effects cannot be completely avoided [2]. Given the disadvantages of these pain medications, it is indispensable to develop some novel analgesic drug with the same efficacy and fewer or no adverse effects
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