Pharmacological Effects of Matrine in Nitroglycerine-induced Migraine Pain by Inhibiting Cytokines and Oxidative Stress

Migraine, also known as headache disorder is characterized by moderate to severe periodic attacks of acute headaches associated specifically with phonophobia, photophobia, and nausea with emotional, cognitive, autonomic, and motor disturbances. Neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are implicated in the pathogenesis of migraine in the central nervous system. Matrine is an alkaloid that is isolated from the Chinese herb Sophora flavescens. It possesses several pharmacological properties including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and neuroprotective effects. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of matrine against migraine induced by the intraperitoneal administration of nitroglycerine (10 mg/kg) in mice. Matrine (50 mg/kg) significantly mitigated behavioral parameters such as mechanical allodynia, periorbital allodynia, thermal allodynia, and hyperalgesia. Nitroglycerine produced spectral changes in the brain tissues, which were reversed by treatment with matrine. Matrine also prevented histopathological and neurodegenerative changes in the cortex and trigeminal nucleus caudalis (TNC) regions. It remarkably improved the blood-brain barrier integrity along with a reduction in the levels of oxidative stress markers such as lipid peroxidase (LPO), nitric oxide (NO), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) in the cortex regions of the brain. Furthermore, it also improved the antioxidant level such as glutathione (GSH), glutathione sulfotransferase (GST), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Matrine also attenuated the NTG-induced neuroinflammation by inhibiting the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) levels in the cortex region of the brain. HPLC analysis represented BBB permeability of matrine. Hence, the current findings suggest that matrine possesses neuroprotective properties in the nitroglycerine-induced migraine model.