• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.23 no.1 s.53
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• pp.38-43
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• 1999

Ginseng total saponins (ginsenosides) are biologically active main ingredients of Panax ginseng. In present study, we have investigated whether pretreatment of ginsenosides inhibited capsaicin-induced pain at the spinal level, in the view that capsaicin causes substance P (SP) release from primary afferents. Ginsenosides relieved capsaicin-induced pain in a dose-dependent manner. The $ED_{50}$ of the effect was 43 (20-93, $95\%$ C.I.) ${\mu}g/mouse$. We investigated excitatory amino acids-induced nociceptive responses in mice, because these agents are also involved in nociceptive transmission in the spinal cord. Coadministration of ginsenosides with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) or kainate via i.t. inhibited NMDA- but not kainate-induced pain behaviors. The $ED_{50}$ for the inhibition of NMDA-induced pain by ginsenosides was 37 (21-66, $95\%$ C.I.) ${\mu}g/mouse$. These results suggest that the ginsenosides-induced antinociception results from blocking of pain transmitter-induced nociceptive information at the spinal level.