Effect of Jingkang Mixture on Radicular Pain in Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy by Regulating Autophagy Through the Akt/FoxO3a Pathway

LIAO Yitao; XIAO Qingming; ZHANG Xian; CAI Jianping; LI Chao; DONG Pengjun

doi:10.13730/j.issn.2097-2148.2024.12.003

Abstract：Objective To investigate the mechanism of Jingkang mixture regulates autophagy through the the pro-tein kinase B(Akt)/forkhead box O3a(FoxO3a)signaling pathway to alleviate radicular pain in cervical spondylotic ra-diculopathy(CSR).Methods A total of 40 SD rats were randomly divided into control group(normal feeding without any intervention),model group(CSR molding+gavage of 1 ml normal saline),Jingkang mixture group(CSR molding+gavage of 1ml Jingkang mixture concentrated liquid)and 3-methyladenine(3-MA)group(CSR molding+gavage of 1 ml 3-MA autophagy inhibitor),with 10 rats in each.The evaluation score of gait disorder,paw mechanical withdraw thresh-old(PMWT)and paw withdraw thermal latency(PWTL)were measured.Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the expression of microtubule-associated proteins light chain 3β(LC3B)in the nerve root tissues;while hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining was performed to observe nerve root tissue neurons;Western blot was used to detect the protein expres-sions of autophagy markers Beclin1,autophagy related protein 5(ATG5),Akt,p-Akt,FoxO3a and p-FoxO3a in the nerve root tissues.Results Compared with the control group,the PMWT and PWTL of rats in model group were significantly lower(all P＜0.01);the number and volume of nerve cell were significantly reduced,while the distribution was dispread,and the expression of Beclin1,ATG5 and LC3B in nerve root tissues were significantly reduced(all P＜0.01);the levels of p-Akt/Akt and p-FoxO3a/FoxO3a significantly increased(all P＜0.01).Compared with the model group,the PMWT and PWTL of rats in the Jingkang mixture group significantly increased(all P＜0.01),the number of nerve cell significantly in-creased,and the expression of Beclin1,ATG5 and LC3B in nerve root significantly increased(all P＜0.01),while the levels of p-Akt/Akt and p-FoxO3a/FoxO3a were significantly reduced(all P＜0.01);compared with the model group,the PMWT and PWTL of rats in the 3-MA group significantly decreased(all P＜0.01),the number of nerve cell were significantly reduced,the expression of Beclin1,ATG5 and LC3B in nerve root tissues were significantly reduced(all P＜0.01).Conclusion Jingkang mixture can alleviate nerve cell damage and increase pain thresholds in CSR rats and relieve radicular pain by upregulating autophagy via the Akt/FoxO3a signaling pathway.