Effects of oxymatrine on joint inflammation and T cell subsets in rats with collagen induced arthritis / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of oxymatrine on joint inflammation and T cell subsets in CIA rats. METHODS Rats were randomly divided into 6 groups normal control group, collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model group, high-dose OMT (80 mg · kg-1 · d-1) group, middle-dose OMT (40 mg · kg-1 · d-1) group, low-dose OMT(20 mg · kg-1 · d-1) group and total gluco-side tripterygium (40 mg · kg-1 · d-1) group. To establish CIA model, all rats were injected with mixture of sheep type II collagen protein and Freunds complete adjuvant (FCA) intradermally at the right hindfoot, and injected again 1 week later at multipoints of the end of tail to boost the immunization. The intragastric administration procedure was performed from the first day after boosting immunization once a day for 4 weeks. Arthritis index (AI) was recorded every week. The blood sample was taken after the last administration to analyze T cell subsets by Flow Cytometry; serum TNF-α and IL-1β contents were measured by ELISA. Synovium of joint were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde, and the hepatic pathological changes were observed. RESULTS: OMT could improve arthritis index (P < 0.05), decrease CD4+ T level (P < 0.05), increase CD8+ T level (P < 0.05), and also reduce CD4+/CD8+ ratio (P < 0.05). The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and IL-1β, were markedly decreased (P <0.01), too. Morphological observation indicated that OMT had significant inhibitory effect on synovial cells proliferation. CONCLUSION: OMT may play a therapeutic action on rheumatoid arthritis through adjusting the levels of T cells and cytokine. Copyright 2012 by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.