Parthenolide Relieves Pain and Promotes M2 Microglia/Macrophage Polarization in Rat Model of Neuropathy

Figure 3

Effects of PTL on the protein levels of pronociceptive (IL-1β, IL-18, iNOS, and IL-6) and antinociceptive (IL-10 and TIMP1) factors in the spinal cord 7 days after CCI. The nerve injury caused increased IL-18 (b), iNOS (d), and IL-6 (e) protein levels, but the IL-1β (a) protein level was unchanged after CCI. Chronic PTL administration diminished protein levels of IL-1β (a), IL-18 (b), and iNOS (d) but did not change IL-6 (e) in the dorsal part of the lumbar spinal cord 7 days after injury. The protein level of IL-10 (c) and TIMP1 (f) was unchanged in the spinal cord following CCI, but repeated administration of PTL significantly increased IL-10 (c) and TIMP 1 (f) proteins compared to those of CCI-exposed rats without PTL treatment. The data are presented as the mean ± SEM of 5–7 samples from each group. Intergroup differences were analyzed using Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test. , , and indicate significant differences compared to naïve rats. ^#, ^##, and ^### indicate differences between vehicle-treated and PTL-treated CCI-exposed group. N-naïve, V-vehicle, and PTL-parthenolide. The immunoblots shown are representative of 5–7 individual samples.