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AMPK activation by peri-sciatic nerve administration of ozone attenuates CCI-induced neuropathic pain in rats Free
Lijuan Lu1,2,†, Cailong Pan2,†, Lu Chen3, Liang Hu2, Chaoyu Wang2, Yuan Han2, Yanjing Yang4,*, Zhixiang Cheng5,*, and Wen-Tao Liu2,*
1 Department of Pain, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, China
2 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
3 State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China
4 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
5 Department of Pain Management & Cancer Biotherapy Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China † These authors contributed equally to this work. *Correspondence to:Wen-Tao Liu, E-mail: painresearch@njmu.edu.cn; Zhixiang Cheng, E-mail: zhixiangcheng@126.com; Yanjing Yang, E-mail: yangyanjing_2007@163.com
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 9, Issue 2, April 2017, 132-143,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjw043

Neuropathic pain is a debilitating clinical condition with few efficacious treatments, warranting development of novel therapeutics. Ozone is widely used as an alternative therapy for many different pain conditions, with exact mechanisms still elusive. In this study, we found that a single peri-sciatic nerve injection of ozone decreased mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia, and normalized the phosphorylation of protein kinase C γ, N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase in a chronic constriction injury (CCI) model in rat sciatic nerve. Meanwhile, ozone significantly suppressed CCI-induced activation of spinal microglia. More importantly, the anti-nociceptive effect of ozone depended on the activation of 5′-adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which was proved by the fact that the phosphorylated AMPK level increased during the ozone therapy and AMPK antagonist abolished the effect of ozone in vivo and in vitro. In addition, direct injection of AMPK agonist could replicate the anti-nociceptive effect of ozone in CCI rats. In conclusion, our observations indicate that peri-sciatic nerve injection of ozone activates AMPK to attenuate CCI-induced neuropathic pain.