Active ingredient of aconite root against peripheral neuropathic pain is identified as neoline

Aconite root is used in East Asian traditional medicines to treat pain. Since its toxicity, it is used after heat-processing for detoxifying. The present study revealed that processed aconite root could relief neuropathic pain in murine peripheral neuropathy model induced by oxaliplatin, paclitaxel, or partial ligation of the sciatic nerve (Seltzer model), and identified that its active ingredient is not benzoylmesaconine, a degraded compound of toxic mesaconitine, but neoline, a stable compound by detoxifying heat-processing.