Antinociceptive Activity of Stephanolepis hispidus Skin Aqueous Extract Depends Partly on Opioid System Activation

Abstract

Stephanolepis hispidus is one of the most common filefish species in Brazil. Its skin is traditionally used as a complementary treatment for inflammatory disorders. However, there are very few studies on chemical and pharmacological properties using the skin of this fish. This study was undertaken in order to investigate the effect of aqueous crude extract of S. hispidus skin (SAE) in different nociception models. Here, we report that intraperitoneal administration of SAE inhibited the abdominal constrictions induced by acetic acid in mice. In addition to the effect seen in the abdominal constriction model, SAE was also able to inhibit the hyperalgesia induced by carrageenan and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in mice. This potent antinociceptive effect was observed in the hot plate model too, but not in tail-flick test. Naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, was able to block the antinociceptive effect of SAE in the abdominal constriction and hot plate models. In addition, SAE did not present cytotoxic or genotoxic effect in human peripheral blood cells. Our results suggest that aqueous crude extract from S. hispidus skin has antinociceptive activity in close relationship with the partial activation of opioid receptors in the nervous system. Moreover, aqueous crude extract from S. hispidus skin does not present toxicity and is therefore endowed with the potential for pharmacological control of pain.

Carvacryl acetate, a derivative of carvacrol, reduces nociceptive and inflammatory response in mice

“…Mediators produced at the sites of inflammation have been known to produce pain through the activation or sensitization of nociceptors adjacent to the injured tissue (Carvalho et al, 2013). Experimental models of inflammatory pain in rodents have been successfully employed to reproduce this kind of pain and are used to search new anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs (Andrade et al, 2012).…”

Marine Pharmacology in 2012–2013: Marine Compounds with Antibacterial, Antidiabetic, Antifungal, Anti-Inflammatory, Antiprotozoal, Antituberculosis, and Antiviral Activities; Affecting the Immune and Nervous Systems, and Other Miscellaneous Mechanisms of Action

“…that was also observed to inhibit calcium oxalate crystallization, a constituent of urinary kidney stones [23]; antioxidant activity in organic extracts from 30 species of Hawaiian marine algae, with the carotenoid fucoxanthin identified as the major bioactive antioxidant compound in the brown alga T. ornata [24]; screening of antioxidant activity in 18 cyanobacteria and 23 microalgae cell extracts identified Scenedesmus obliquus strain M2-1, which protected against DNA oxidative damage induced by copper (II)-ascorbic acid [25]; anxiolytic -like effect of a salmon phospholipopeptidic complex composed of polyunsaturated fatty acids and bioactive peptides associated with strong free radical scavenging properties [26]; antinociceptive activity in extracts of the skin of the Brazilian planehead filefish Stephanolepis hispidus with partial activation of opioid receptors in the nervous system [27]; strong in vitro acetylcholinesterase inhibition, an enzyme targeted by drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, myasthenia gravis and glaucoma, by an extract from the polar marine sponge Latrunculia sp. [28]; central nervous system activity of a phlorotannin-rich extract from the edible brown seaweed Ecklonia cava targeting gamma-aminobutyric acid type A benzodiazepine receptors [29]; and novel protease inhibitors from Norwegian spring spawning herring determined by screening of marine extracts with assays combining fluorescence resonance energy transfer activity and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy-based binding [30].…”

Pharmacological Activities of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Its Derivative—“Chrysoeriol” in Skin Diseases

“…Antinociceptive activity has a relationship with the opioid receptors in the nervous system. It is used as a complementary treatment for inflammatory disorders of the skin [69].…”