{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T21:09:24Z","timestamp":1790284164398,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,14]],"date-time":"2024-01-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1705190400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo, Brasil\u2014Governo do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo"},{"name":"Coordena\u00e7\u00e3o de Aperfei\u00e7oamento de Pessoal de N\u00edvel Superior\u2014Capes, Brasil\u2014Governo Federal"},{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Arizona"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Anethole is a phenolic compound synthesized by many aromatic plants. Anethole is a substance that humans can safely consume and has been studied for years as a biologically active molecule to treat a variety of conditions, including nerve damage, gastritis, inflammation, and nociception. Anethole is thought to carry out its biological activities through direct interaction with ion channels. Anethole is beneficial for neurodegenerative Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s diseases. Nevertheless, nothing has been investigated regarding the effects of anethole on voltage-gated Na+ channels (VGSCs), which are major players in neuronal function. We used cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons from neonatal rats as a source of natively expressed VGSCs for electrophysiological studies using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Our data show that anethole interacts directly with VGSCs. Anethole quickly blocks and unblocks (when removed) voltage-activated Na+ currents in this preparation in a fully reversible manner. Anethole\u2019s binding affinity to these channels increases when the inactive states of these channels are populated, similar to lidocaine\u2019s effect on the same channels. Our data show that anethole inhibits neuronal activity by blocking VGSCs in a state-dependent manner. These findings relate to the putative anesthetic activity attributable to anethole, in addition to its potential benefit in neurodegenerative diseases.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms25021034","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,15]],"date-time":"2024-01-15T04:03:26Z","timestamp":1705291406000},"page":"1034","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["State-Dependent Blockade of Dorsal Root Ganglion Voltage-Gated Na+ Channels by Anethole"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Luiz","family":"Moreira-Junior","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3972-1361","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jose Henrique","family":"Leal-Cardoso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Superior Institute of Biomedical Sciences, State University of Cear\u00e1, Campus of Itaperi, Fortaleza 607402, CE, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Antonio Carlos","family":"Cassola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Sao Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo 05508, SP, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3231-0436","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joao Luis","family":"Carvalho-de-Souza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA"},{"name":"Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Sao Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo 05508, SP, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"9","article-title":"Compositional characteristics of the essential oil of Pimpinella anisum and Foeniculum vulgare grown in Serbia","volume":"39","author":"Acimovic","year":"2015","journal-title":"Bot. 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