Ação do Cuminaldeído em modelo experimental de osteoartrite em ratos

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative disease of great impact worldwide, characterized by generalized joint failure, and is associated with increasing age. Therefore, finding new ways to treat this disease is of fundamental importance. Cuminaldehyde is a biologically active component of the essential oils of Cuminum cyminum, Carum alcaravia, Cinnamomum cassia, and Cinnamomum verum. Pharmacological studies indicate the use of this substance in experimental models of diabetes, cancer, lipoxygenase inhibition, and inflammation. From these studies we hypothesized that cuminaldehyde has analgesic and anti-inflammatory potential. The study aimed to evaluate the effects of cuminaldehyde in an experimental osteoarthritis model in rat knees with sodium monoiodoacetate (MIA). We used 24 Wistar rats that had induced OA and treated orally with couminaldehyde (5 mg/kg), saline (0.1mL/kg), indomethacin via (2.5 mg/kg) and SHAM group (no induction of OA and no intervention). Cuminaldehyde proved to be efficient in reducing the pain of OA animals in the tests of forced walking, tactile allodynia, functional disability of weight distribution on the legs, and in spontaneous pain evaluated through changes in facial expressions of the rats by the Mouse Grimace Scale - MGS, being superior to indomethacin in all tests evaluated. Radiographic analysis and histological data showed no significant changes between the control group and the groups that received treatment. The in vitro cyclooxygenase inhibition assay showed a relative preference for inhibition of the COX-2 enzyme. The molecular docking study indicated that cuminaldehyde has satisfactory energy affinity parameters with opioid receptors, although lower than drugs traditionally used for this purpose. Activity prediction data suggest that this molecule possesses anesthetic activity at the central level and is a substrate of CYP complex enzymes, as are other known anesthetics. Thus, it is concluded that cuminaldehyde has relevant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity in the treatment of experimental osteoarthritis in rat knees.