Abstract
Bee venom (BV) acupuncture has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects; therefore, it was used as a traditional Korean medicine for various musculoskeletal disorders, especially arthritis. In this study, we investigated the effect of BV on monosodium urate (MSU) crystal-induced acute gouty rats. An intra-articular injection of MSU crystal suspension (1.25 mg/site) was administered to the tibiotarsal joint of the hind paw of Sprague Dawley rats to induce MSU crystal-induced gouty arthritis. Colchicine (30 mg/kg) was orally administered 1 h before MSU crystal injection as a positive control, and BV (0.5 mg/kg) was injected into the tibiotarsal joint immediately after MSU crystal injection. The ankle thickness, mechanical allodynia, and expression of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL6, COX2 and iNOS) and chemokines (MIP-1α, MIP-1β, MCP-1, GRO-α, MIP-2α) were then evaluated. BV reduced the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, which are important mediators of MSU crystal-induced inflammatory responses. This anti-inflammatory effect was also confirmed histologically to attenuate synovitis and neutrophil infiltration. We demonstrated that BV markedly ameliorated ankle edema and mechanical allodynia in gouty rats. These results suggest that BV acupuncture is a potential clinical therapy for acute gouty management.
Highlights
Gouty arthritis is an inflammatory rheumatoid joint disease caused by an inflammatory reaction due to the accumulation of monosodium urate (MSU) in the joints [1]
Our results showed that the expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 was increased in the gouty rats, and the inhibitory effect of Bee venom (BV) was similar to or better than that of Col, a treatment drug for acute gouty arthritis
We showed that BV and Col decreased the increase in MPO-positive cells and decreased MSU-induced synovitis in the ankle joint tissue of gouty rats
Summary
Gouty arthritis is an inflammatory rheumatoid joint disease caused by an inflammatory reaction due to the accumulation of monosodium urate (MSU) in the joints [1]. As major therapeutic agents used in clinical practice, colchicine (Col), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and corticosteroids inhibit NALP3 inflammasomeinduced caspase-1 activation and IL-1β release caused by MSU crystals in gouty arthritis, as well as inhibit chemotactic factors released from neutrophil lysosomes [4]. These treatments are used alone or in combination, there are side effects such as gastrointestinal disorders, exacerbation of heart failure (NSAIDs) [5], hypertension, restriction of use in diabetic patients (corticosteroids) [6], digestive side effects, and renal and nervous system toxicity (Col) [7,8]. This study was conducted to determine the effect of BV on various stages of the inflammatory response induced by MSU crystals using a model of intra-articular injection into the tibiotarsal joint with features that resemble gouty arthritis
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