Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the anti-arthritic activity of the water extract of Rhizoma Arisaematis (WERA) using a collagen II -induced arthritis (CIA) rat model.Methods: CIA was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by intradermal injection of bovine collagen II in Complete Freund’s Adjuvant. The rats were treated with daily oral doses of WERA (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) for 21 consecutive days. Methotrexate (MTX, 3 mg/kg), used as a positive control, was administered orally 2 times/week for 3 weeks. The severity of arthritis was evaluated using indices of paw swelling, arthritic score, body weight, thymus index, and spleen index. In addition, the serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α were measured.Results: All doses of WERA significantly inhibited paw edema (p < 0.01), decreased arthritis scores (p < 0.01) and spleen index (p < 0.05), and alleviated the weight loss associated with CIA in rats. Furthermore, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 serum levels were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) by all doses of WERA. By contrast, IL-10 serum levels were markedly increased (p < 0.05).Conclusion: WERA exerts therapeutic effects in CIA in rats by decreasing the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10, suggesting WERA may be an effective candidate drug for treating human rheumatoid arthritis.Keywords: Rhizoma Arisaematis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Inflammatory, Cytokines, Freund’s complete adjuvant
Highlights
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by synovial inflammation and hyperplasia, cartilage and bone destruction, and chronic joint destruction with bone erosion in the extremities [1]
The major categories of RA medications used in the clinical setting include disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DEMARDs), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroid hormone and biologics (TNF-α antibody and the decoy TNF-α receptor) [5]
The three major constituents in the High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint of water extract of Rhizoma Arisaematis (WERA) were identified as inosine, guanosine and adenosine
Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by synovial inflammation and hyperplasia, cartilage and bone destruction, and chronic joint destruction with bone erosion in the extremities (especially the fingers) [1]. The average morbidity of RA is 1 % throughout the world, and the prevalence of RA is three times higher in females than in males [2] This disease can rapidly progress into multisystem inflammation with irreversible joint damage, causing premature mortality, disability and compromised quality of life in the industrialized and developing world [3,4]. Most RA patients are very likely to use plant-derived agents for treating RA [9,10]. These reports suggest that finding new RA drugs from commonly used TCMs may be a promising strategy
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