Minocycline attenuates pain by inhibiting spinal microglia activation in diabetic rats
The mechanisms associated with diabetesinduced neuropathic pain are complex and poorly understood. In order to understand the involvement of spinal microglia activity in diabetic pain, the present study investigated whether minocycline treatment is able to attenuate diabetic pain using
a rat model. Diabetes was induced using a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). Minocycline was then intrathecally administered to the rats. Paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) and paw withdrawal latency (PWL) were tested weekly. The expression of OX42, Iba1, phosphop38 mitogenactivated
protein kinase (MAPK), tumor necrosis factorα (TNFα), interleukin1β (IL1β) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), were examined in the spinal cord in order to evaluate the activation of microglia. The present study demonstrated that rats with STZinduced diabetes
exhibited increased mean plasma glucose concentration, decreased mean body weight and significant pain hypersensitivity compared with control rats. PWT and PWL values of rats with STZinduced diabetes increased following treatment with minocycline. No differences were observed in expression
levels of the microglial activity markers (OX42, Iba1 and phosphop38 MAPK) between rats with STZinduced diabetes and control rats. However, TNFα, IL1β and iNOS expression levels were higher in rats with STZinduced diabetes compared with control rats. Following treatment with minocycline
markers of microglial activation, including cytokines and iNOS, were downregulated in rats with STZinduced diabetes. The results of the present study indicated that minocycline treatment may inhibit spinal microglial activation and attenuate diabetic pain in rats with STZinduced diabetes.
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, P.R. China 2: Department of Ophthalmology, No. 474 Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830013, P.R. China 3: Department of Anatomy and K. K. Leung Brain Research Center, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, P.R. China
Publication date: 01 August 2015
- Molecular Medicine Reports is a monthly, peer-reviewed journal available in print and online, that includes studies devoted to molecular medicine, underscoring aspects including pharmacology, pathology, genetics, neurosciences, infectious diseases, molecular cardiology and molecular surgery. In vitro and in vivo studies of experimental model systems pertaining to the mechanisms of a variety of diseases offer researchers the necessary tools and knowledge with which to aid the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases.
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