β-Sitosterol Alleviates Neuropathic Pain by Affect Microglia Polarization through Inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB Signaling Pathway

作者：Zheng, Yachun; Zhao, Jiaji; Chang, Shiquan; Zhuang, Zifeng; Waimei, Si; Li, Xin; Chen, Zenni; Jing, Bei; Zhang, Di^*; Zhao, Guoping^*

来源：Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology, 2023, 18(4): 690-703.

DOI：10.1007/s11481-023-10091-w

• beta-Sitosterol
• TLR4
• NF-kappa B
• GMI-R1
• Inflammation
• Sciatica

The etiology of neuropathic pain is mostly caused by mechanical deformation and neuroinflammation, of which neuroinflammation is the main cause of chronic neuropathic pain. Activation of the TLR4/NF-kappa B signaling pathway mediates elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines, and we clearly demonstrated by in vivo and in vitro Western blot experiments that beta-sitosterol significantly inhibited the elevated Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression levels and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) activation associated with inflammatory responses. In cellular experiments, we clearly saw that both beta-sitosterol and TLR4/NF-kappa B signaling pathway inhibitors could inhibit M1 proinflammatory phenotype expression and promote M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype expression in GMI-R1 microglia by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence assays. Therefore, we suggest that beta-sitosterol can affect microglial polarization by inhibiting the TLR4/NF-kappa B signaling pathway thereby reducing neuroinflammation and thus alleviating neuropathic pain.

• 单位
  广东药学院