AGU654

The formalin-induced paw inflammation/nociceptive test is a chemical persistent pain model in rodents in which subcutaneous injection of formalin into the hind paw produces spontaneous nocifensive behaviors such as flinching and licking. The response is classically biphasic, consisting of an early acute phase (Phase I) reflecting direct activation of peripheral nociceptors (particularly C-fiber afferents), followed by a later prolonged phase (Phase II) associated with central sensitization in the spinal dorsal horn driven by sustained afferent input and inflammatory signaling. This model is widely used to evaluate analgesic and anti-inflammatory interventions because it captures both peripheral nociception and central sensitization processes within a single assay system.

The NLRP3 inflammasome is a cytosolic innate immune signaling platform that integrates priming signals and danger-signal activation to promote caspase-1 activation, maturation of IL-1β and IL-18, and gasdermin D-mediated pyroptotic cell death. The core experimental logic is to determine whether inflammatory disease phenotypes are driven by increased NLRP3 expression, ASC-containing inflammasome assembly, caspase-1 cleavage, GSDMD cleavage, and extracellular release of IL-1β/IL-18 rather than by nonspecific cell injury alone. The pathway is strongly linked to inflammation-related disease phenotypes because monosodium urate crystals activate NALP3/NLRP3 inflammasome signaling in gout-like crystal inflammation, cholesterol crystals activate NLRP3 inflammasomes in atherogenesis models, and DSS-induced intestinal inflammation has been reported to involve NLRP3 inflammasome activity. However, experimental colitis studies also show context-dependent protective effects of NLRP3 inflammasome co