Neuroprotective effect of Ginkgo biloba extract EGb761 on diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain rats by inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway
SHAO Ting
HUANG Conggang
LUO Zhihua
LI Qianfeng
Abstract：Objective To investigate the neuroprotective effect of Ginkgo biloba extract EGb761 on rats with dia-betic peripheral neuropathic pain(DPNP)and its mechanism.Methods Fifty adult male SD rats were randomly divided into a control group,a DPNP group,a low-dose EGb761 group,a high-dose EGb761 group,and a PI3K activator group,with 10 rats in each group.The DPNP rat model was established using a high-sugar diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozo-tocin.The low-dose and high-dose EGb761 groups were administered EGb761 by gavage(50,100 mg/kg).The PI3K activator group received intraperitoneal injection of the PI3K activator 740Y-P(0.02 mg/kg)based on high-dose EGb761 gavage.The control and DPNP groups were given an equal volume of saline by gavage,once daily for 14 consecutive days.Mechanical pain stimulation tests and thermal sensitivity tests were used to assess pain symptoms.Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to measure blood flow in the lower limbs.A biological signal acquisition system was used to determine nerve conduction velocity.TUNEL staining was used to detect neuronal apoptosis in the spinal cord dorsal horn.Western blotting was used to measure the protein expression levels of PI3K,p-PI3K,AKT,p-AKT,mTOR,and p-mTOR in the spinal cord dorsal horn tissue.Results Compared with the control group,the DPNP group showed significantly decreased paw withdrawal threshold,nerve blood flow velocity,and nerve conduction velocity(P<0.05),and significantly increased neuronal apoptosis rate in the spinal cord dorsal horn,as well as the protein expression ratios of p-PI3K/PI3K,p-AKT/AKT,and p-mTOR/mTOR in the spinal cord dorsal horn tissue(P<0.05).Compared with the DPNP group,the EGb761 groups showed significantly increased paw withdrawal threshold,ther-mal withdrawal latency,nerve blood flow velocity,and nerve conduction velocity(P<0.05),and significantly decreased neuronal apoptosis rate in the spinal cord dorsal horn and the protein expression ratios of p-PI3K/PI3K,p-AKT/AKT,and p-mTOR/mTOR(P<0.05).Activation of PI3K significantly reversed the neuroprotective effects of EGb761(P<0.05).Conclusion EGb761 has a neuroprotective effect in DPNP rats,and its mechanism may be achieved by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.
Keywords：diabetic peripheral neuropathic painginkgo biloba extract EGb761neuroprotective effectPI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway
Publication Date：2025-09-25
Online Publishing Date：2025-11-28(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 547-552 )