Antinociceptive Profile of (-)-Spectaline: A Piperidine Alkaloid from Cassia leptophylla

Abstract

The antinociceptive activity of (-)-spectaline (1), a piperidine alkaloid isolated from Cassia leptophylla Vog. (Leguminosae), was investigated. We have also studied the acute oral toxicity of 1 in mice and it did not show any signals of toxicity in doses lower than 400 μmol/kg. The antinociceptive effect of 1 was evaluated on chemical (acetic acid, formalin and capsaicin) and thermal (hot plate and tail flick) pain models in mice, using classical standard drugs. Dipyrone ID₅₀ = 14.68 μmol/kg (4.8 mg/kg), indomethacin ID₅₀ = 0.78 μmol/kg (0.28 mg/kg) and (-)-spectaline ID₅₀ = 48.49 μmol/kg (15.75 mg/kg), all produced a significant inhibition of acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing in mice. (-)-Spectaline was inactive in the hyperalgesic model of formalin and did not show any central analgesic activity (hot plate and tail flick models). In the capsaicin-induced neurogenic pain model, (-)-spectaline presented an important inhibitory effect with an ID₅₀ = 20.81 μg/paw and dipyrone ID₅₀ = 19.89 μg/paw. The ensemble of results permitted us to identify 1 as an antinociceptive compound. The mechanism underlying this antinociceptive effect of 1 remains unknown, but the results suggest that such an effect could be related to pathways associated to vanilloid receptor systems.

Cassia leptophylla Vog. - Leguminosae - (-)-spectaline - antinociceptive

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