Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of lectin from the marine green alga Caulerpa cupressoides

Abstract

The search for new compounds for controlling pain and inflammation, with minimal side effects has focused on marine algae. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of the purified lectin from the green marine alga Caulerpa cupressoides (CcL) in classical models of nociception and inflammation. Male Swiss mice received i.v. CcL 30 min prior to receiving 0.8% acetic acid (10 ml/kg; i.p); 1% formalin (20 microl; s.c.) or were subjected to thermal stimuli. We observed that CcL (3, 9 or 27 mg/kg) significantly reduced the number of writhes induced by acetic acid by 37.2%; 53.5% and 86.0%, respectively. CcL (27 mg/kg) also reduced the second phase of the formalin test. However, CcL (27 mg/kg) did not present significant antinociceptive effects in the hot plate test, when compared to morphine, suggesting that its antinociceptive action occurs predominantly through a peripheral mechanism. The antinociceptive effects were abolished when CcL was pre-incubated with mucin (20mg/kg; i.v.). When CcL (9 mg/kg) was administered i.v. in Wistar rats 30 min before carrageenan administration, neutrophil counts were reduced by 65.9%. CcL also inhibited paw edema in all time intervals, especially at the third hour. Finally, CcL (9 mg/kg) administered i.v. in mice did not cause hepatic or renal alterations and did not affect body mass or macroscopy of the organs examined. In conclusion, CcL appears to have important antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities and could represent an important agent for future studies.

Biological Applications of Plants and Algae Lectins: An Overview

“…The data indicated that HCA, PcL and CcL have actions antiinflammatory and antinociceptive (in formalin and acetic acid models). However, these lectins did not present significant antinociceptive effects in the hot plate test [110,111,112].…”

Novel κ-opioid receptor agonist MB-1C-OH produces potent analgesia with less depression and sedation

“…We further evaluated the antinociception produced by MB-1C-OH using the acetic acid-induced writhing and formalin tests. These tests are both widely used to measure analgesic activity [28][29][30] . The formalin test occurs in two phases.…”

Lectin isolated from Brazilian seeds of velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens (L) DC.) presents analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antihemolytic action

“…The effect of lectins on painful stimuli has presented wide variation of stimulated receptors. The algae lectins appear to act mainly on the peripheral nervous system (Bitencourt et al, 2008;Vanderlei et al, 2010), and the legume lectins appear to act at the Central Nervous System (de Freitas Pires et al, 2013;Figueiredo et al, 2009), although it is not a universal claim. Figure 6.…”