The Effects Of Sinomenine And MTX On The Levels Of IL6 In PIA Rats.

Background and Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized mainly by chronic inflammation of the synovial joints, with destructive damage of bone and cartilage and infiltration by blood-derived cells. Although the causes of RA are not fully understood, proinflammatory cytokines are involved in the development of the disease.Several observations indicate that IL-6 may play an important role in the development of RA. Serum IL6 concentration correlates with disease activity and joint damage in RA patients.The level of IL6 in the serum of RA could be used to evaluate the effect of anti-rheumatic drugs. MTX is an antagonist of folate with a potent immunosuppression and anti-inflammation .It is commonly used as the first-line medicine .But serious adversre events are often observed in patients treated with MTX. Sinomenine is an extract of Sinomenium acutum which is a traditional Chinese anti-rheumatic herb.However, the mechanisms by which Sinomenine modify the clinical status of RA are not well understood.Animal models of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are widely used in delineating an preclinical development of new therapeutic agents. pristane- induced arthritis in rats are optimal models for RA since they fulfill the RA criteria including a chronic relapsing disease course.To study the effects of sinomenine and MTX on the expressinon of IL6 mRNA by synoviocytes and lymph node in PIA rats. To investigate the Kinetics of serum levels of IL-6 in PIA rats...