Combination Therapies of Diacerein and Febuxostat Inhibit IL-1ß Responses and Improve Clinical Symptoms in Patients With Refractory Gout.

There are several therapeutic strategies available for the treatment of an acute gout attack and the prevention of recurrent gout flares, and they include nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs. This prospective study was aimed at evaluating the efficiency and safety of diacerein in combination with febuxostat on urate control, global assessments of disease activity, self-monitored gouty acute flare times, inflammatory markers, and clinical symptoms associated with their life quantity in patients with refractory gout. A total of 64 patients with refractory gout were sequentially recruited and prescribed with oral febuxostat alone or febuxostat plus diacerein daily for 12 weeks. The intensity of joint pain, numbers of acute flare, disease activity and the levels of serum amyloid A, mature IL-1ß, IL-18, C-reactive protein, and urate in individual subjects were routine analyzed. In comparison with that treatment with febuxostat alone, treatment with both drugs for 12 weeks had a better therapeutic effect on reducing the values of visual analog scales, acute flares, and healthy assessment questionnaire scores in these gout patients. Furthermore, treatment with both drugs also significantly reduced the mean daily dose of etoricoxib and the levels of serum IL-1ß and serum amyloid A. There was no significant difference in the frequency of patients with adverse effect between these 2 groups of patients. In conclusion, combination of diacerein and febuxostat had better therapeutic effect on reducing acute gout flares, inflammation, and clinical symptoms in patients with refractory gout.

[Expression of human T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3(TIM-3) on eukaryotic cells and establishment of stable transfectant cell line].

AIM: To construct eukaryotic expression vector of human T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3(TIM-3) and transfect mammalian cells to establish stable cell line. METHODS: The whole coding region of TIM-3 was amplified by PCR and inserted into eukaryotic expression vector pIRES2EGFP. The recombinant plasmid was transfected into mammalian cells by Lipofectamine. The expression product was analyzed by flow cytometry and Western blot. The stable transfectant was screened and established by flow cytometry and selective medium. RESULTS: COS-7 and CHO cells were transfected with recombinant plasmid by Lipofectamine. The expression speciality was identified by Flow cytometry and Western blot. The stable transfectant of CHO cell line was established. CONCLUSION: The whole coding region of TIM-3 was successfully subcloned into eukaryotic expression vector and expressed on the surface of mammalian cells. The stable transfectant of CHO cell line was established.