Papers of the Week

The heartwood of Syringa oblata Lindl. (SO) is one of Mongolian folk medicine to treat insomnia and pain, but related pharmacological evaluation and mechanism of action remains unclear. In the present study, the locomotor activity test and the threshold dose of pentobarbital sodium induced sleep test in mice were used to evaluate the sedative effect of ethanol extract of SO (ESO), and the hot plate test, acetic acid-induced writhing test and formalin test in mice were to evaluate the analgesic effect. The underlying mechanism of ESO analgesia was explored by RT-PCR and western blot analysis that associated with the regulation of NF-κB signaling pathway. Besides, the main constituents of ESO were characterized by LC-MS data analysis and comparison with isolated pure compounds. The current findings brought evidence for clinical application and further pharmacological and phytochemical studies on SO.