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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Neuropharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1436146

Liquiritin Ameliorates Painful Diabetic Neuropathy in SD Rats by Inhibiting NLRP3-MMP-9-mediated Reversal of Aquaporin-4 Polarity in The Glymphatic System

Provisionally accepted
Shuaiying Jia Shuaiying Jia Wenqin Yin Wenqin Yin Wen-Mei Xu Wen-Mei Xu Jiang Li Jiang Li Wei Yan Wei Yan Jingyan Lin Jingyan Lin *
  • Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Despite advancements in diabetes treatment, the management of Painful Diabetic Neuropathy (PDN) remains challenging. Our previous research indicated a significant correlation between the expression and distribution of Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in the spinal glymphatic system and PDN. However, the potential role and mechanism of liquiritin in PDN treatment remain uncertain. This study established a rat model of PDN using a combination of low-dose Streptozotocin (STZ) and a high-fat, high-sugar diet. Rats were treated with liquiritin and MCC950 (an NLRP3 inhibitor). We monitored fasting blood glucose, body weight, and mechanical allodynia periodically. The glymphatic system's clearance function was evaluated using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and changes in proteins including NLRP3, MMP-9, and AQP4 were detected through immunofluorescence and Western blot techniques. The results indicate that after treatment, PDN rats showed improvements in all measured parameters. Consequently, liquiritin may alleviate PDN by modulating AQP4 expression through the NLRP3-MMP-9 pathway.

    Keywords: Painful Diabetic neuropathy, Glymphatic system, aquaporin-4, Liquiritin, matrix metalloproteinase-9

    Received: 21 May 2024; Accepted: 27 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jia, Yin, Xu, Li, Yan and Lin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jingyan Lin, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China

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