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Berberine Ameliorates Collagen-Induced Arthritis in Rats Associated with Anti-inflammatory and Anti-angiogenic Effects

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Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation and joint destruction. In this study, we explored the effect of berberine on rats with bovine type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), an animal model for RA. Following treatment, berberine attenuates arthritic scores and suppresses collagen–specific immune responses in CIA rats. Compared with the un-treated CIA group, berberine reversed pathological changes, which showed a significant improvement in synovial hyperplasia and inflammatory infiltration. The expression levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-17 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were obviously reduced in the sera of berberine-treated rats (all P < 0.05). Moreover, berberine showed marked inhibition of the expression of VEGF and CD34 (all P < 0.05). Interestingly, berberine significantly suppresses p-ERK, p-p38 and p-JNK activation (all P < 0.05), which may partially explain the anti-RA activity of berberine. These results suggest that berberine ameliorates CIA in rats associated with anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic effects, which might be of great therapeutic value for RA.

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Abbreviations

RA:

Rheumatoid arthritis

CIA:

Collagen-induced arthritis

CII:

Type II collagen

VEGF:

Vascular endothelial growth factor

IL:

Interleukin

TNF-α:

Tumor necrosis factor-α

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declared no competing interests exist.

Authors’ Contribution

Z.G.W., Z.C. and S.H.T. designed the research, Z.G.W. and Z.C. finished experiments and wrote the manuscript. Y.W. and Z.Y.H. performed partial research. S.S.Y. and J.F.G. analyzed the data. S.H.T. and Z.G.R. helped revise the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Command, People’s Liberation Army, 627 Wuluo Road, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Zhigang Wang, Jianfei Gao & Zhiguo Rao

  2. Department of Integrated Chinese Traditional and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Zhe Chen, Yu Wang, Zhaoyi Huang & Shenghao Tu

  3. Division of Endocrinology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China

    Sisi Yang

  4. Department of Integrated Chinese Traditional and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China

    Shenghao Tu

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  1. Zhigang Wang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Shenghao Tu or Zhiguo Rao.

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Z. Wang and Z. Chen contributed equally to this work.

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Wang, Z., Chen, Z., Yang, S. et al. Berberine Ameliorates Collagen-Induced Arthritis in Rats Associated with Anti-inflammatory and Anti-angiogenic Effects. Inflammation 37, 1789–1798 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-014-9909-y

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