Department of Physiology, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Rheumatol Int. 2012 Oct;32(10):3119-25. doi: 10.1007/s00296-011-2083-8. Epub 2011 Sep 20.
The root of Clematis chinensis Osbeck has been used widely in rheumatoid arthritis in Chinese traditional medicine, and AR-6 is a triterpene saponin isolated from it. In this present study, we investigated the in vivo effects of oral AR-6 in chronic rat with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and possible molecular mechanism. CIA was induced by immunizing 56 female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with chicken typeIIcollagen (CII). Following eighteen days, the immunization rats with CIA were treated with AR-6 (32, 16, 8 mg/kg), cyclophosphamide (7 mg/kg), and TGP (Total Glucosides of Paeonia) (180 mg/kg) for 7 days, and rats without CIA were given the same volume of purified water. TNF-α and IL-1β levels in peripheral blood will be measured by ELISA, and Western blot analysis will be used to detect the expression of NF-κB p65 subunits, TNF-α and COX-2, in synovial membrane. We found that therapeutic treatment with AR-6 markedly improves the paw swelling and histopathological changes. Moreover, the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1β were markedly lowered, and the expression of NF-κB p65 subunits, TNF-α and COX-2, in the synovial membrane of CIA rats was significantly inhibited in the AR-6-treated groups. These results enable to prove that AR-6 has a potential anti-inflammatory effect in CIA rats, and its mechanism may relate to the inhibition of the expression of NF-κB p65 subunits, TNF-α and COX-2.
中华威灵仙的根在中国传统医学中被广泛用于治疗类风湿关节炎，AR-6 是从其中分离得到的一种三萜皂苷。在本研究中，我们研究了 AR-6 对胶原诱导关节炎（CIA）慢性大鼠的体内作用及其可能的分子机制。通过给 56 只雌性 Sprague-Dawley（SD）大鼠免疫鸡型 II 胶原（CII）来诱导 CIA。在 18 天后，用 CIA 免疫的大鼠用 AR-6（32、16、8mg/kg）、环磷酰胺（7mg/kg）和 TGP（白芍总苷）（180mg/kg）治疗 7 天，而没有 CIA 的大鼠给予相同体积的纯净水。通过 ELISA 测量外周血中 TNF-α 和 IL-1β 的水平，并通过 Western blot 分析检测滑膜中 NF-κB p65 亚基、TNF-α 和 COX-2 的表达。我们发现，AR-6 的治疗作用可显著改善爪肿胀和组织病理学变化。此外，血清中促炎细胞因子 TNF-α 和 IL-1β 的水平明显降低，滑膜中 NF-κB p65 亚基、TNF-α 和 COX-2 的表达在 AR-6 治疗组中也明显受到抑制。这些结果证明 AR-6 对 CIA 大鼠具有潜在的抗炎作用，其机制可能与抑制 NF-κB p65 亚基、TNF-α 和 COX-2 的表达有关。
