Chinese plant derivative – sinomenine – could join pain relief arsenal

Sinomenine – a compound that comes from the roots of a Chinese plant – may be helpful for managing chronic pain management, a research group describes in Pain Research & Management.

Purified from the roots of the climbing plant Sinomenium acutum, sinomenine is traditionally used in China and Japan for treating arthritis.

The research group has previously demonstrated that sinomenine could be useful in treating chronic pain, particularly as it seems people don’t become used to it if they take it multiple times.

And now it seems it has a role in immune regulation and neuroimmune interaction too.

“Sinomenine has distinct immunoregulative properties, in which glutamate, adenosine triphosphate, nitric oxide, and proinflammatory cytokines are thought to be involved,” they outline. “Sinomenine may alter the unbalanced neuroimmune interaction and inhibit neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and central sensitization in chronic pain states.

“In conclusion, sinomenine has promising potential for chronic pain management in different clinical settings.”

Click here to read the original research.

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