Open Access

ARTICLE

Sophocarpine suppress inflammatory response in human fibroblast-like synoviocytes and in mice with collagen-induced arthritis

Lihua Zhu^1,a, Liyan Zhu^2,a

1 Department of Rheumatism, Daqing Oil Field General Hospital, NO.9 Saertu District, Daqing City 163000, Heilongjiang Province, China
2 Department of Rehabilitation, Daqing Donghai Hospital, NO.13 Chengbei Road, Ranghulu District, Daqing City 163000, Heilongjiang Province, China

* Corresponding Author: L. Zhu,

European Cytokine Network 2017, 28(3), 120-126. https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2017.0400

Accepted 02 October 2017;

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting nearly 1% of adults worldwide. This study aimed to investigate whether sophocarpine is a potential drug for treating RA. Methods: The cytotoxicity of sophocarpine to RA-fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) was evaluated using 3-[4,-dimethylthiazol2-y]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays kit and released lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays. The transcription of proinflammatory cytokines in RA-FLSs was analyzed by reverse transcription and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The proteins levels were further verified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The alterations in the mediators of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor B (NF-κB) signaling pathways were tested by western blotting. The clinical effects of sophocarpine were evaluated in type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in DBA-/1 mouse model by scoring their clinical responses, synovitis, and cartilage destructions, and ELISA was employed to analyze the concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines in the serum of CIA mice. Results: The results showed that sophocarpine contained low cytotoxicity to RA-FLS cells, and it was capable to downregulate the expressions of LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokines. The suppressions of MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways by sophocarpine were also found in LPS-induced RA-FLSs. The attenuation of the symptoms in CIA mouse model were significant, in which concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines were decreased after the sophocarpine treatment. Conclusion: In this study, we demonstrated the potential of sophocarpine in treating RA, both in vitro and in vivo. Sophocarpine may be a potential drug in treating human RA.

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