| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 16
| Issue : 69 | Page : 282-287 |
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Charantin relieves pain by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokine induction
Jaewon Shim1, Jae Goo Kim1, Eun Yeong Lim2, Yun Tai Kim2
1 Research Division of Food Functionality, Korea Food Research Institute, Wanju-Gun, Jeollabuk-Do, Korea
2 Research Division of Food Functionality, Korea Food Research Institute, Wanju-Gun, Jeollabuk-Do; Department of Food Biotechnology, Korea University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea
Correspondence Address:
Yun Tai Kim
Research Division of Food Functionality, Korea Food Research Institute, 245, Nongsaengmyeong-Ro, Iseo-Myeon, Wanju-Gun, Jeollabuk-Do 55365, Department of Food Biotechnology, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217, Gajeong-Ro, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 34113
Korea
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/pm.pm_348_19
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Background: The fruits of Momordica charantia, commonly known as bitter melon, have been used as a traditional medicine in several countries. Some studies have reported its pharmacological effects in various disorders. Objectives: Because there have been little reports on charantin's role as an analgesic, we evaluated its pain relief effect to determine if it could be a novel pain killer candidate. Materials and Methods: We established post-operative and neuropathic pain models, which represent acute and chronic pain, respectively. Mechanical withdrawal threshold assay and ultrasonic vocalization analysis were used as behavioral tests. Results: The administration of charantin reduced both the post-operative and neuropathic pain. The application of charantin did not make a difference in the activation of action potentials of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. However, charantin inhibited the induction of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin IL-12 and IL-1β in DRG neurons. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that charantin seems to relieve pain by inhibiting the inflammatory process rather than by directly influencing the activity of neurons. We conclude that charantin, the commercially available extract from M. charantia, has great efficacy as a novel analgesic compound.
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