Abstract
Abstract Euphorbia hirta L. (Euphorbiaceae) is a tree locally used as a traditional medicine in Africa and Australia to treat numerous diseases such as hypertension, respiratory ailments, tumors, wounds, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory activities etc. In the present study we investigated the anti-arthritic effects of fresh leaves of E. hirta ethanol extract, that was found to inhibit the production of inflammatory mediators and cytokines of adjuvant arthritis in mice. The production of the Th1 and Th2 cytokine was estimated by flowcytometric assay by using cytometric bead array (CBA) analysis in adjuvant induced arthritis in mice treated with E. hirta at graded oral doses. CBA uses the sensitivity of amplified fluorescence detection by flowcytometer to measure soluble analytes in a particle based immune assay. This assay can accurately quantitate five cytokines in a 50 µl sample volume. Oral administration of E. hirta at doses of 25-200 mg/kg showed significant inhibition of Th1 (IL-2, IFN-γ & TNF-α) and up regulation of Th2 (IL-4 and IL-5) cytokines. Also, E. hirta significantly down regulated LPS induced production of nitric oxide production in peritoneal macrophages. These results suggest that E. hirta exhibit an improvement in adjuvant induced arthritis through down regulation of activated macrophages and T lymphocytes functions such unique effects of E. hirta shown on adjuvant arthritis mice model may be advantageous to the long term treatment of clinical rheumatoid arthritis.
Published Version
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