Danhong injection (DHI) has been widely used in China for cardiocerebrovascular diseases treatments. And in this study, we\ndemonstrated the therapeutic effect ofDHI on experimental diabetic neuropathy for the first time. Methods. Streptozotocin- (STZ-)\ninduced SD rats were used. In experiment 1, 4-week treatment with DHI or saline started 4 weeks after STZ injection; mechanical\nallodynia was measured before and every 2 weeks after STZ injection. In experiment 2, chronic intrathecal infusion of U0126 was\nconducted during the 8th week of diabetes. Phosphorylated and total ERK1/2 in spinal cord were analyzed by western blot. BDNF\nlevel in sciatic nerve was evaluated by ELISA. Results. DHI treatment significantly alleviated mechanical allodynia at the end of\nthe study and downregulated the expression of phosphorylated ERK1/2 in spinal cord. In addition, DHI treatment also elevated\nbrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level in sciatic nerve of DPN rat. In experiment 2, inhibition of ERK1/2 activation\nwas confirmed to result in the alleviation of mechanical allodynia. Conclusions. We demonstrated that DHI was able to alleviate\nmechanical allodynia in diabetic neuropathy rat through inhibiting the activation of ERK1/2. The reduction of BDNF content in\nsciatic nerve was also partially reversed by DHI treatment.
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