Lack of
uricase leads to the high incidence of
gout in humans and poultry, which is different from rodents. Therefore, chicken is considered to be one of the ideal animal models for the study of
gout.
Gout-related
pain caused by the accumulation of
urate in joints is one type of inflammatory
pain, which causes damage to joint function. Our previous studies have demonstrated the crucial role of
calcium-stimulated
adenylyl cyclase subtype 1 (AC1) in inflammatory
pain in rodents; however, there is no study in poultry. In the present study, we injected mono-
sodium urate (MSU) into the left ankle joint of the chicken to establish a
gouty arthritis model, and tested the effect of AC1 inhibitor
NB001 on
gouty arthritis in chickens. We found that MSU successfully induced spontaneous
pain behaviors including sitting, standing on one leg, and limping after 1-3 h of injection into the left ankle of chickens. In addition,
edema and mechanical
pain hypersensitivity also occurred in the left ankle of chickens with
gouty arthritis. After peroral administration of
NB001 on chickens with
gouty arthritis, both the spontaneous
pain behaviors and the mechanical
pain hypersensitivity were effectively relieved. The MSU-induced
edema in the left ankle of chickens was not affected by
NB001, suggesting a central effect of
NB001. Our results provide a strong evidence that AC1 is involved in the regulation of inflammatory
pain in poultry. A selective AC1 inhibitor
NB001 produces an
analgesic effect (not anti-inflammatory effect) on gouty
pain and may be used for future treatment of gouty
pain in both humans and poultry.