Suppression of ongoing experimental arthritis by a chinese herbal formula (huo-luo-xiao-ling dan) involves changes in antigen-induced immunological and biochemical mediators of inflammation.

Ying-Hua Yang,Lixing Lao,Kamal D Moudgil,Rajesh Rajaiah,David Y.-W Lee,Zhongze Ma,Brian M Berman,Harry H S Fong,Hua Yu

doi:10.1155/2011/642027

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the major autoimmune diseases of global prevalence. The use of the anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of RA is associated with severe adverse reactions and toxicity. This limitation has necessitated the search for novel therapeutic products. We report here a traditional Chinese medicine-based herbal formula, Huo luo xiao ling dan (HLXL), which has potent antiarthritic activity as validated in the rat adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) model. HLXL (2.3 g/Kg) was fed to Lewis (RT.11) rats daily by gavage beginning at the onset of arthritis and then continued through the observation period. HLXL inhibited the severity of ongoing AA. This suppression of arthritis was associated with significant alterations in the T cell proliferative and cytokine responses as well as the antibody response against the disease-related antigen, mycobacterial heat-shock protein 65 (Bhsp65). There was a reduction in the level of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-17 and IL-1β but enhancement of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 level. In addition, there was inhibition of both the anti-Bhsp65 antibody response and the serum level of nitric oxide. Thus, HLXL is a promising CAM modality for further testing in RA patients.

Highlights

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the major human autoimmune diseases affecting about 1 per cent of the adult population [1, 2]
The antiarthritic activity of this complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modality was associated with significant changes in the T cell proliferative and cytokine profile of the draining lymph node cells (LNCs), the cytokine secretion by the synovial tissue-derived cells, the antibody response to Bhsp65, and the level of serum nitric oxide (NO)
Huo luo xiao ling dan (HLXL)-fed LEW rats showed reduced T cell proliferative response to Bhsp65 compared to the control water-fed rats

Summary

Introduction

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the major human autoimmune diseases affecting about 1 per cent of the adult population [1, 2]. The disease is characterized by inflammation of the synovial tissue and damage to the cartilage and bone of the joints, leading to severe deformities [1, 3,4,5]. The adverse reactions and toxicity associated with the use of these drugs have expeditiously promoted the use of natural plant products or procedures belonging to the diverse traditional systems of medicine by patients with. RA [8,9,10,11,12,13,14] and other chronic inflammatory disorders [15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23] This growing trend warrants a continuous search for new natural antiarthritic complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) products with well-defined mechanisms of action

Methods

Results

Conclusion