Injected formaldehyde and Freund's adjuvant are used to induce experimental arthritis. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Anti-arthritic and disease modifying activity of Terminalia chebula Retz. in experimental models.
J Pharm Pharmacol. 2010 Dec;62(12):1801-6. Epub 2010 Oct 4. PMID: 21054408
Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the anti-arthritic effect of Terminalia chebula hydroalcoholic extract (TCHE) in experimental models and attempts to correlate the effect of treatment on macrophage-derived pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and extent of disease activity.
METHODS: Arthritis was induced in rats by subplantar administration of either formaldehyde or complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Joint size was measured at regular intervals by using a micrometer screw gauge. Serum and ankle joints of rats immunized with CFA were collected and subjected to ELISA for estimation of TNF-α level and immuno-histochemistry for detection of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-R1, respectively. An acute and 28-day oral toxicity study was carried out to evaluate the safety of the test drug.
KEY FINDINGS: TCHE produced a significant inhibition of joint swelling as compared with control in both formaldehyde-induced and CFA-induced arthritis. TCHE treatment also reduced serum TNF-α level and synovial expression of TNF-R1, IL-6 and IL-1β. Results of acute toxicity study showed that the oral LD50 of TCHE was>2000 mg/kg. Chronic administration also did not produce any significant physiological changes as compared with normal rats.
CONCLUSION: Results indicate that the anti-arthritic activity of TCHE was at least in part due to its modulatory effect on pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in the synovium. We believe that TCHE has the potential to be used as a disease-modifying agent in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
