Vitexin, a C-glycosylated flavone present in several medicinal herbs, has showed various pharmacological activities including antinociception. The present study investigated the antinociceptive effects of vitexin in a mouse model of postoperative pain. This model was prepared by making a surgical incision on the right hindpaw and von Frey filament test was used to assess mechanical hyperalgesia. Isobolographical analysis method was used to examine the interaction between vitexin and acetaminophen. A reliable mechanical hyperalgesia was observed at 2 h post-surgery and lasted for 4 days. Acute vitexin administration (3–10 mg/kg, i.p.) dose-dependently relieved this hyperalgesia, which was also observed from 1 to 3 days post-surgery during repeated daily treatment. However, repeated vitexin administration prior to surgery had no preventive value. The 10 mg/kg vitexin-induced antinociception was blocked by the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone or the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline. The doses of vitexin used did not significantly suppress the locomotor activity. In addition, the combination of vitexin and acetaminophen produced an infra-additive effect in postoperative pain. Together, though vitexin-acetaminophen combination may not be useful for treating postoperative pain, vitexin exerts behaviorally-specific antinociception against postoperative pain mediated through opioid receptors and GABAA receptors, suggesting that vitexin may be useful for the control of postoperative pain.

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A particle manipulating micromixer was developed successfully in this study. The present device was fabricated by simply MEMS process. Only two photomasks, one for electrode array chip and another for micro-channel, were needed to manufacture the micromixer. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) force was used to manipulate the particles in the micro-channel. In this experience, polymer particles with diameter of 1 m were tested in the fluid with conductivity of 0.10mS/cm. The results show that the symmetrical vortices were observed at frequency of 100 kHz. The traveling wave DEP (twDEP) occurred when the input frequency was 10MHz. Micro-mixer chip which can stir fluid to achieve mixing was fabricated successfully by combining an electro array chip and Y-type micro-channel. The mixing performance depends on the voltage input. The flow phenomena were obtained and analyzed by micro-PIV technology. In the future, different cells can be manipulated by the present micromixer to achieve the rapid mixing with different driving frequency. It is useful in the biological or biomedical application.