Abstract
Quercetin, a typical flavonoid derived from a common natural plant, has multiple biological activities. Previous research in animal models has demonstrated the effectiveness of quercetin in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The pharmacological effects and probable mechanisms of quercetin were evaluated in this study. Three databases, PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase, were searched for relevant studies from the creation of the databases to November 2022. Methodological quality was assessed using the SYRCLE risk of bias tool. STATA 15.1 was used to perform the statistical analysis. This research included 17 studies involving 251 animals. The results indicated that quercetin was able to reduce arthritis scores, paw swelling, histopathological scores, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-17 (IL-17), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), malondialdehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and increase interleukin-10 (IL-10), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). These may be related to quercetin's potential anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress, and osteoprotective properties. However, more high-quality animal studies are needed to assess the effect of quercetin on RA. Additionally, the safety of quercetin requires further confirmation. Given the importance of the active ingredient, dose selection and the improvement of quercetin's bioavailability remain to be explored.
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Abbreviations
- AA:
-
Adjuvant-induced arthritis
- AIA:
-
Antigen-induced arthritis
- CAT:
-
Catalase
- CI:
-
Confidence interval
- CIA :
-
Collagen-induced arthritis
- CRP:
-
C-reactive protein
- GSH:
-
Glutathione
- GSH-Px:
-
Glutathione peroxidase
- GSK-3β:
-
Glycogen synthase kinase-3β
- HO-1 :
-
Heme oxygenase-1
- IFN-γ:
-
Interferon-γ
- IL-1β:
-
Interleukin-1β
- IL-6:
-
Interleukin-6
- IL-10:
-
Interleukin-10
- IL-17:
-
Interleukin-17
- IL-21:
-
Interleukin-21
- MAPK:
-
Mitogen-activated protein kinase
- MCP-1:
-
Monocyte chemotactic protein-1
- MDA:
-
Malondialdehyde
- MMPs:
-
Matrix metalloproteinases
- MMP3:
-
Matrix metalloproteinase-3
- MMP9:
-
Matrix metalloproteinase-9
- NF-kB:
-
Nuclear factor kappa B
- NLRP3:
-
NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3
- NSAIDs:
-
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
- RA:
-
Rheumatoid arthritis
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- SD :
-
Standard deviation
- SE:
-
Standard error
- SEM:
-
Standard error of the mean
- SMD:
-
Standardized mean difference
- SOD:
-
Superoxide dismutase
- TBARS:
-
Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances
- TGF-β:
-
Transforming growth factor-β
- Th:
-
T helper
- TNF-α:
-
Tumor necrosis factor-α
- TXNIP:
-
Thioredoxin-interacting protein
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The authors are grateful to Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine for providing a research platform and supporting this study.
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The National Natural Science Foundation of China provided funding for this project (Grant No.82274247).
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XL and HY designed the study. TT and HY developed the search plan and conducted a database search. HZ and FW screened the articles and extracted the data. XL and TT performed the quality evaluation and data analysis. XL wrote the manuscript and YG revised the manuscript.
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Liu, X., Tao, T., Yao, H. et al. Mechanism of action of quercetin in rheumatoid arthritis models: meta-analysis and systematic review of animal studies. Inflammopharmacol 31, 1629–1645 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-023-01196-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-023-01196-y