@Article{ecn.2017.0400,
AUTHOR = {Lihua Zhu, Liyan Zhu},
TITLE = {Sophocarpine suppress inflammatory response in human fibroblast-like synoviocytes and in mice with collagen-induced arthritis},
JOURNAL = {European Cytokine Network},
VOLUME = {28},
YEAR = {2017},
NUMBER = {3},
PAGES = {120--126},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/ECN/v28n3/65517},
ISSN = {1952-4005},
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 <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>. Sophocarpine may be a potential drug in treating
human RA.},
DOI = {10.1684/ecn.2017.0400}
}