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Ilex paraguariensis Promotes Orofacial Pain Relief After Formalin Injection: Involvement of Noradrenergic Pathway

1, 2, 1, 1, 3, 2, 1★★ Corresponding author

  1. 1Laboratory of Pharmacology, Area of Biological and Health Science, University of the West of Santa Catarina, Joaçaba
  2. 2Department of Plant Science, Plant Morphogenesis and Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC
  3. 3Department of Oral Medicine, State University of Ponta Grossa, Ponta Grossa, PR, Brazil

CORRESPONDENCE

Geisson Marcos Nardi

Laboratory of Pharmacology, Area of Biological and Health Science, University of the West of Santa Catarina, Joaçaba

geisson.nardi@unoesc.edu.br

Volume 8, Issue 5s · pp. S31-S37 · 2016 · DOI: 10.4103/0974-8490.178643

ABSTRACT

Drinking mate or chimarrão, a hot infusion of Ilex paraguariensis (ILEX) leaves, is a common habit in Southern South America that has a social and almost ritualistic role. It has been used as a stimulant beverage in South America and analgesic in regions of Argentina for treatment of headache and others painful inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacological activity of I. paraguariensis infusion (ILEX) on orofacial nociception model induced by formalin, and study its mechanism of action. The analgesic effect of ILEX was assessed through writhing test, paw formalin test, paw edema induced by carrageenan, and orofacial pain induced by formalin. To study the action mechanism of ILEX, opioidergic, dopaminergic, nitrergic, and adrenergic pathways were investigated. The high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of ILEX infusion revealed caffeine and theobromine. The treatment with ILEX reduced the number of writhing. However, it was effective neither in the formalin paw test nor in the paw edema induced by carrageenan. Different from formalin paw test, ILEX was able to reduce the orofacial reactivity to formalin in 31.8% (70.4 ± 2.5 s; first phase), and 20% (127.3 ± 18.9 s; second phase). The analgesic effect of ILEX results from the modulation of noradrenergic pathways since prazosin (a1-adrenoceptor antagonist, 0.15 mg/kg; intraperitoneal) reversed the analgesic effect of ILEX. The present report demonstrates that analgesic effect of ILEX in orofacial formalin test is due mainly to modulation of noradrenergic pathways.

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    Carvalho, E. F. D., Oliveira, S. K. D., Nardi, V. K., Gelinski, T. C., Bortoluzzi, M. C., Maraschin, M., & Nardi, G. M. (2016). Ilex paraguariensis Promotes Orofacial Pain Relief After Formalin Injection: Involvement of Noradrenergic Pathway. Pharmacognosy Research, 8(5s), S31-S37. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-8490.178643

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    © 2016 Author(s)

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0