Author(s)

Hikari Kuwahata, Soh Katsuyama, Takaaki Komatsu, Hitoshi Nakamura, Maria Tiziana Corasaniti, Giacinto Bagetta, Shinobu Sakurada, Tsukasa Sakurada, Kazuo Takahama

Department of Clinical Pharmaceutics, Tohoku Pharmaceutical University, Sendai, Japan.
Department of Environmental and Molecular Health and Sciences, Graduated School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan.
Department of Pharmacobiological Sciences, University of Magna Gracia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Department of Pharmacobiology, and University Consortium for Adaptive Disorders and Headach (UCADH), Section of Neuropharmacology of Normal and Pathological Neuronal Plasticity, University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy.
Department of Pharmacology, Daiichi College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fukuoka, Japan.
Department of Physiology and Anatomy, Tohoku Pharmaceutical University, Sendai, Japan..

β-Caryophyllene (BCP) is known as a common constitute of the essential oils of numerous food plants and primary component in Cannabis. In this study, we investigated the effect of local intraplantar (i.pl.) injection of BCP on mechanical hypersensitivity induced by partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL) in mice. Relative to sham operation controls, mice with the PSNL displayed a maximum level of hyperresponsiveness to von Frey metallic filament on post-operative day 7. PSNL-induced allodynia was seen in the ipsilateral side of nerve ligation, but not in the contralateral side. The i.pl. injection of BCP into the ipsilateral hindpaw to PSNL attenuated mechanical allodynia in a dose-dependent manner. BCP injection into the contralateral hindpaw did not produce anti-allodynic effects, suggesting a local peripheral anti-allodynic effect of BCP. Anti-allodynic effects induced by i.pl. injection of BCP were prevented by pretreatment with the cannabinoid (CB₂) receptor antagonist AM630, but not by the CB₁ receptor antagonist AM251. These data suggest that i.pl. injection of BCP could produce anti-allodynia by activating peripheral CB₂ receptors, but not CB₁ receptors in a mouse model of neuropathic pain. Taken together, these results suggest that peripheral CB₂ receptors may contribute to the effectiveness of BCP in the treatment of neuropathic pain disorders.

β-Caryophyllene (BCP); Neuropathic Pain; Partial Sciatic Nerve Ligation (PSNL); Peripheral Cannabinoid (CB) Receptor

H. Kuwahata, S. Katsuyama, T. Komatsu, H. Nakamura, M. Corasaniti, G. Bagetta, S. Sakurada, T. Sakurada and K. Takahama, "Local Peripheral Effects of β-Caryophyllene through CB₂ Receptors in Neuropathic Pain in Mice," Pharmacology & Pharmacy, Vol. 3 No. 4, 2012, pp. 397-403. doi: 10.4236/pp.2012.34053.