Anti-nociceptive effect of stigmasterol in mouse models of acute and chronic pain

Abstract

Stigmasterol is a common sterol found in plants, but the anti-nociceptive effect of this compound and its mechanism of action are not fully explored. Thus, in the present study, the anti-nociceptive effect of stigmasterol was investigated in acute and chronic models of pain and its mechanism of action. We used adult male albino Swiss mice (25-35 g) to observe the anti-nociceptive effect of stigmasterol in acetic-acid writhing test or in complete Freund's adjuvant injection, surgical incision in hind paw, or partial sciatic nerve ligation. Moreover, we investigate the involvement of opioid receptors (naloxone, 2 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) in stigmasterol anti-nociceptive effect and stigmasterol action on acetylcholinesterase activity. Some possible adverse effects caused by stigmasterol were also investigated. Stigmasterol (0.3-3 mg/kg, orally) exhibited an anti-nociceptive effect on acetic-acid-induced writhing test. Furthermore, it markedly attenuated the mechanical allodynia caused by surgical incision (after acute treatment with stigmasterol, preventive and curative effects were observed) and partial sciatic nerve ligation (after acute treatment with stigmasterol) and complete Freund's adjuvant (after acute or repeated treatment with stigmasterol). The anti-nociceptive effect of stigmasterol was not reversed by naloxone. Moreover, stigmasterol did not alter in vitro acetylcholinesterase activity in spinal cord or brain samples. Also, stigmasterol did not cause gastric ulcers or alter the gastrointestinal transit of mice. Taken together, these results support the potential anti-nociceptive effect of stigmasterol in different models of pain.

Himalayan Nettle Girardinia diversifolia as a Candidate Ingredient for Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Applications—Phytochemical Analysis and In Vitro Bioassays

“…In particular, the results obtained in the chemical bioassays showed significant inhibition of cholinesterase. A previous paper indicated that phytosterols can have inhibitory properties on AChE and BuChE [24,29,37,38] and phytol has also been studied in this regard [24]. Previous published literature showed that phenolic constituents can act as inhibitors of these enzymes [39], thus suggesting that multiple compounds in the phytocomplex of G. diversifolia may be the responsible for the observed activity.…”

“…Authors also reported that the phytosterol mixture was a better AchE inhibitor than its pure compound on C. quinquefasciatus AchE [23]. Other authors reported non-activity of stigmasterol in a mice model and in an vitro test at a dose of 0.3-30 µM (0.123 mg/L, 12.3 mg/L) [24], while other authors reported AchE inhibition with IC 50 of 644 µM (265 mg/L) [25].…”

Pharmacological effects of medicinal components of Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC.

“…A present study displayed that stigmasterol showed anti-nociceptive effect on male albino Swiss mice model according to the results from acetic-acid writhing test, surgical incision, partial sciatic nerve ligation and complete Freund’s adjuvant. Further study exerted that naloxone could not block the anti-nociceptive effect of stigmasterol [ 74 ]. Recent study indicated that stigmasterol exhibited anti-diabetic activity in vitro and in vivo.…”

Gaining Insights To Understand The Anti-Inflammatory Functions of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Conditioned Medium In Combination With Stigmasterol In IL-1β-Stimulated Rat Articular Chondrocytes – An In-Vitro Approach

“…Stigmasterol, also known as anti-stiffness factor, is the most common phytosterol found in severalnuts, seeds, legumes, banana, cabbage, and medicinal herbs including Akebia quinata, Gypsophila oldhamiana, Emilia sonchifolia, Eucalyptus globules, Aralia cordata, Emilia sonchifolia, Theobroma cacao L (Yadav et al, 2018). In addition to its proven anti-osteoarthritic effects (Chen et al, 2012;Gabay et al, 2010), stigmasterol possesses anti-nociceptive (Walker et al, 2017), anti-tumor (Ghosh et al, 2011), antipsychotic (Yadav et al, 2018), anti-oxidant (Panda et al, 2009), anti-in ammatory (García et al, 1999), anti-diabetic (Ramu et al, 2016), anti-allergic (Antwi et al, 2018), chemopreventive (So et al, 2018) and neuroprotective effects (Haque et al, 2021). Very recently, we demonstrated that intra-articular transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells combined with stigmasterol resulted in e cient cartilage repair/regeneration compared to the per se treatments in a monosodium-iodoacetate induced rat model of OA (Pragasam et al, 2021).…”