Safety and Bioassay Unit, Egyptian Drug Authority, Giza, Egypt.
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Egypt.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2023 Oct 5;314:116577. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2023.116577. Epub 2023 May 11.
Cerastes is a snake found mainly in the Egyptian desert. Many studies were performed to explain the possible snake venom's pharmacological therapeutic effect in different autoimmune diseases. One of the most common auto-immune diseases is rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by a high release of pro-inflammatory and immune-modulatory cytokines. The reduction of these markers can indicate how effective is the administered drug.
This study aims to explore the potential pharmacological effects of cerastes venom in experimentally-induced RA in rats using Complete Freund's adjuvant - via different mechanisms - by assessing various tissue and serum parameters.
The rats were assigned to negative control group, cerastes control group, positive control group, dexamethasone-treated group, infliximab-treated group, and cerastes-treated group. The study ended on the 20 day when serum and tissue samples were prepared for further evaluation of reduced glutathione, malondialdehyde, rheumatoid factor, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells as well as relative expression of phosphorylated Janus-kinase, phosphorylated signal transducers and activators of transcription, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, and receptor activator of nuclear factor Kappa-B ligand. In addition, a histopathological examination of different groups' knees joints, and spleen was done.
The results showed a significant improvement of arthritis induced in the cerastes-treated group in contrast to the positive control group in all assessed parameters. In addition, significant improvement of arthritis was observed in the histopathological examination of different groups' knees joints, and spleen.
These results revealed that cerastes snake venom has potent anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects and can be used in the management of arthritis.
Cerastes 是一种主要生活在埃及沙漠中的蛇。许多研究旨在解释蛇毒在治疗不同自身免疫性疾病方面的潜在药理学治疗效果。最常见的自身免疫性疾病之一是类风湿关节炎。类风湿关节炎的特点是促炎细胞因子和免疫调节细胞因子的大量释放。这些标志物的减少可以表明给予的药物的效果如何。
本研究旨在通过评估各种组织和血清参数，使用完全弗氏佐剂在实验诱导的大鼠类风湿关节炎中探索 Cerastes 毒液的潜在药理学作用 - 通过不同的机制 - 。
将大鼠分为阴性对照组、Cerastes 对照组、阳性对照组、地塞米松治疗组、英夫利昔单抗治疗组和 Cerastes 治疗组。研究于第 20 天结束，此时准备血清和组织样本，以进一步评估还原型谷胱甘肽、丙二醛、类风湿因子、肿瘤坏死因子-α、白细胞介素-6 和核因子κB 轻链增强子的激活 B 细胞以及磷酸化 Janus 激酶、磷酸化信号转导和转录激活物、核因子红细胞 2 相关因子 2 和核因子 Kappa-B 配体的相对表达。此外，对不同组膝关节和脾脏进行了组织病理学检查。
结果表明，与阳性对照组相比，Cerastes 治疗组的关节炎有显著改善，所有评估参数均有改善。此外，在不同组膝关节和脾脏的组织病理学检查中观察到关节炎有显著改善。
这些结果表明 Cerastes 蛇毒具有强大的抗炎和免疫调节作用，可用于关节炎的治疗。
