Intervention effects of Ligustrazine on the RANK/RANKL/Osteoprotegerin pathway in peripheral blood of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Objective To observe the expression rate and the average fluorescence intensity of receptor activator of NF-kB (RANK), RANK ligand (RANKL) , Osteoprotegerin (OPG) of CD3~+ T lymphocytes, neu-trophils, and CD14 monocyte in the peripheral blood of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) model rats and to explore the significance of bone destruction and inflammation in the process of RA by using Ligustrazine. Methods Rats were randomly divided into five groups, the normal group, the model control group, high dosage Ligustrazine group, low dosage Ligustrazine group and positive drug group. Each group had ten animals. After 7 days, peripheral blood of rats was examined by indirect immunofluorescence and flow cytometry technology. Results The OPG expression was decreased significantly from 24.7% to 18.7% compared with the control group (q=4.2, P<0.05) and increased to 23. 8%(g=3.97, P<0.05) after high-dose Ligustrazine treatment, but the expression of RANK and RANKL did not change significantly in RA rats treated with high-dose and low-dose ligustrazine group. The average fluorescence intensity of RANK in CD3~+ T cells, neutrophils, and CD14 monocytes in RA rats decreased significantly to 20.6, 135.4 and 84.2, respectively, but increased after high-dose ligustrazine treatment to 31.0, 192.1 and 95.6 (q = 10. 4, q =8. 6, q=6.3, P<0.05). Conclusion High-dose ligustrazine plays a role on RA by regulating the RANK/RANKL/ OPG pathway. Key words: Ligustrazine; Rheumatoid arthritis; RANK/ RANKL/OPG