Aaptamine, a natural marine compound isolated from the sea sponge, has various biological activities, including delta-opioid agonist properties. However, the effects of aaptamine in neuropathic pain remain unclear. In the present study, we used a chronic constriction injury (CCI)-induced peripheral neuropathic rat model to explore the analgesic effects of intrathecal aaptamine administration. We also investigated cellular angiogenesis and lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) expression in the ipsilateral lumbar spinal cord after aaptamine administration in CCI rats by immunohistofluorescence. The results showed that aaptamine alleviates CCI-induced nociceptive sensitization, allodynia, and hyperalgesia. Moreover, aaptamine significantly downregulated CCI-induced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31), and LDHA expression in the spinal cord. Double immunofluorescent staining showed that the spinal VEGF and LDHA majorly expressed on astrocytes and neurons, respectively, in CCI rats and inhibited by aaptamine. Collectively, our results indicate aaptamine’s potential as an analgesic agent for neuropathic pain. Furthermore, inhibition of astrocyte-derived angiogenesis and neuronal LDHA expression might be beneficial in neuropathy.

Neuropathic pain (NP) affects countless people worldwide, but there is no effective treatment. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) participate in epigenetic modifications, which are involved in neuropathy-induced nociceptive sensitization. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter that can inhibit NP. HDACs regulate glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) 65 and the production of its downstream metabolite GABA. However, the role of HDACs and their possible cellular mechanisms in the spinal cord in neuropathy remains unclear. We found Hdac3, Hdac4, and Hdac6 gene upregulation in the lumbar spinal cord dorsal horn (SCDH) in chronic constriction injury (CCI) rats by RT-qPCR analysis. By western blotting and immunofluorescence staining, we further confirmed that the HDAC3, HDAC4, and HDAC6 proteins were significantly upregulated, and GAD65 and GABA production decreased dramatically. Intrathecal administration of panobinostat, a non-selective HDAC inhibitor, attenuated nociceptive behavior (thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia) and restored to downregulated spinal GAD65 and GABA in CCI rats. Thus, the upregulation of HDAC expression might induce nociception through GAD65 and GABA inhibition in CCI-induced neuropathy. These findings strongly suggest that HDACs regulate inhibitory neurotransmitters as a potential therapeutic strategy for an epigenetic approach to managing NP.