The effect of intrathecal administration of Tanshinone IIA on bone cancer pain behavior and spinal expression of inflammatory cytokines

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of intrathecal injection of Tanshinone ⅡA on bone cancer pain behavior and spinal IL-1 β, IL-6, TNF- α expression. Methods According to the random number table method , 84 C3H/HeNCrlVr male mice were divided into: (1) Tanshinone IIA 10 μg group: the tumor mice were treated by intrathecal administration ( once daily on the days 14-20 after inoculation of tumor cells) with Tanshinone IIA 10 μg; (2)Tanshinone IIA 20 μg group: the tumor mice were treated with Tanshinone IIA 20 μg; (3)Tanshinone IIA 40 μg group: the tumor mice were treated with Tanshinone IIA 40 μg; (4) normal control group: the mice were given food and water ad libitum; (5) DMSO+ Sham group: the sham mice were treated with the same volume of 5%DMSO; (6) Tanshinone IIA+ Sham group: the sham mice were treated with Tanshinone IIA 40 μg; (7)DMSO+ Tumor group: the tumor mice were treated with the same volume of 5%DMSO.The mice pain behaviors were assessed with the paw withdrawal thermal latency (PWTL) at the corresponding time points, then the mice were killed and the samples of spinal cord were detected by real-time PCR. Results The basic values of PWTL had no significant differences among all groups (P>0.05). At day 14 after operation, no significant difference (P>0.05) was found in the PWTL value between normal control group and the sham operation group. But in tumor group, the PWTL value was significantly lower than that of normal control group (P 0.05) among normal control group, Tanshinone IIA+ Sham group and DMSO+ Sham group.The PWTL ((6.19±1.26)s) in DMSO+ Tumor group was significantly lower than that of normal control group((16.01±1.59)s) (P 0.05). Conclusion Intrathecal injection of Tanshinone ⅡA plays a role in anti-cancer pain, and inhibition of spinal inflammatory cytokine release may be one of its mechanisms. Key words: Bone cancer pain; Spinal cord; Tanshinone IIA; IL-1β; IL-6; TNF-α