Background : This study aimed to identify the mechanisms of the antinociceptive effects of PG in the fibromyalgia (FM)-like animal model. Methods and Results : To assess the possible effect of PG on FM symptoms, we constructed a FM animal model induced by intermittent cold stress with slight modification. All mice underwent nociceptive assays using electronic von Frey anesthesiometer and Hargreaves equipment. To assess the relation between PG and the expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), and phosphorylated CREB (p-CREB), western blotting and immunohistochemistry analyses were performed. In behavioral analysis, nociception tests showed that the pain threshold was significantly decreased in the FM group compared to control group. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses of the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus showed downregulation of BDNF and p-CREB proteins in the FM group compared to control group. PG recovered these changes at behavioral tests and protein level. These results provide evidence that the effects of PG extract in the FM model may be related to its modulating effect on the BDNF signaling pathway in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex. Conclusion : Our animal model may be involved in the mechanism by which PG extract is effective as a therapeutic agent for FM.

Understanding the host defense mechanisms in response to brown leaf spot disease caused by Cochliobolus miyabeanus is very important for production of resistant plant. In this study, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DGE) in conjunction with mass spectrometry was utilized to unravel changes of stress inducible proteins in rice leaves infected with C. miyabeanus. For this purpose, we firstly observed disease developmental process of C. miyabeanus in rice using trypan blue, anilin blue, acid fuchsin staining, and DAB staining for ROS detection and expressional abundance of ROS related proteins in rice leaves inoculated was confirmed by Western blotting. Proteins were extracted by PEG fractionation and their expression patterns were analyzed by 2-DGE and subjected to image analysis using the ImageMaster 6.0 2D Platinum software, resulting in the identification of 86 differentially expressed protein spots with significantly changes (p<0.05) compared with control. MALDI-TOFTOF-MS analysis revealed that 69 proteins including 42 and 27 significantly up- and down-regulated proteins, respectively, were identified. Based on gene ontology analysis, identified proteins were classified according to their functional groups: metabolism (20%), oxygen-detoxifying (13%), protein stress/defense (24%). Thus, these results for the first time suggest that differentially induced proteins may play a key role for understanding host defense mechanisms during rice -C. miyabeanus interaction.