OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Yangqixue Qufengshi Recipe (YQXQFS) on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) model mice under different genetic backgrounds.

METHODSCollagen Induced Arthritis (CIA) were established on HLA-DR4 transgenic (TG) mice and non-transgenic (NTG) mice, which partly were raised with YQXQFS, and the onset day of CIA, the level of type II collagen (CII)-reactive antibodies and the pathological scores of CIA were assessed.

RESULTSUnder HLA-DR4 TG background (compared with NTG mice), the earlier onset day of CIA (11.22 +/- 3.35 days vs 16.56 +/- 4.75 days, P < 0.05) and higher level of CII-reactive antibodies (0.2274 +/- 0.1390 microg/ml vs 0.1101 +/- 0.0560 microg/ml, P < 0.05) were observed, but the pathological scores of CIA remained unchanged. YQXQFS could not influence the onset day of CIA and the level of CII-reactive antibodies, but had a certain effect on the total pathological scores (6.56 +/- 3.43 scores vs 11.11 +/- 5.64 scores) and bone erosion (0.22 +/- 0.44 scores vs 1.67 +/- 1.50 scores) of CIA on NTG mice (P < 0.05), NTG YQXQFS group compared with NTG experimental group.

CONCLUSIONYQXQFS had a certain effect on RA model, but had no significant effect on HLA-DR4 related CIA.

Animals ; Antibodies ; blood ; Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; immunology ; pathology ; Collagen Type II ; immunology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; HLA-DR4 Antigen ; genetics ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Mice, Knockout

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease whose etiopathogenesis is not well understood. Although soluble (s) forms of 4-1BB (s4-1BB) and 4-1BB legand (s4-1BBL) have been detected in the sera of RA patients, their significance is not known. We compared the serum levels of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL in RA patients with those in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Behcet's disease (BD) patients. Serum levels of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL were significantly higher in RA patients compared with healthy controls, SLE or BD patients, and the abundance was correlated with disease severity in patients with RA. The serum levels of s4-1BB in RA patients were inversely corroborated with 4-1BB expression levels on activated T lymphocytes. In addition, there was a correlation between serum levels of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL. The augmented secretion of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL levels into the serum may reflect the clinical symptoms of RA and levels of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL in sera at the time of diagnosis may be indicative of the severity and outcome of RA.
Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD/metabolism ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/*blood/drug therapy/immunology/*pathology ; Behcet Syndrome/blood/immunology ; Comparative Study ; Female ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents/metabolism/therapeutic use ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear/metabolism ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/blood/immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Random Allocation ; Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor/*blood ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/*blood ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. ; Severity of Illness Index ; Statistics ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/*metabolism