Long term alcohol consumption leads to decreased nociceptive threshold characterized by spontaneous burning pain, hyperalgesia and allodynia. The mechanism involved in this pain includes increased oxidative-nitrosative stress, release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and neuronal apoptosis. The present study was designed to explore the protective effect of epigallocatechin-3-gallate against alcoholic neuropathic pain in rats. Rats fed with alcohol (35%) for 10 weeks showed markedly decreased tail flick latency in tail-immersion test (thermal hyperalgesia), vocalization threshold in Randall-Sellito test (mechanical hyperalgesia) and paw-withdrawal threshold in von-Frey hair test (mechanical allodynia) along with enhanced oxidative-nitrosative stress and inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, IL-1β and TGF-β1 levels). Co-administration of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (25-100 mg/kg) significantly and dose-dependently prevented functional, biochemical and molecular changes associated with alcoholic neuropathy. In conclusion, the current findings suggest the neuroprotective potential of epigallocatechin-3-gallate in attenuating the functional, biochemical and molecular alterations associated with alcoholic neuropathy through modulation of oxido-inflammatory cascade.
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