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Melatonin Alleviates Acute Gouty Inflammation In Vivo and In Vitro

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An Erratum to this article was published on 04 August 2021

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Summary

The aim of this study was to identify the effects of melatonin on acute gouty inflammation and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. We found significantly lower serum melatonin levels in gout patients in the acute phase than in those in the remission phase or in normal individuals. The mRNA expression of melatonin receptor 2 (MT2) was also lower in gout patients than in normal individuals. To verify the in-vivo role of melatonin, a gouty arthritis model was established by intraarticular injection of monosodium urate (MSU, 1 mg) crystals into the paws of C57BL/6 mice. Joint inflammation in the mouse model was evaluated by measuring the thickness of the right paw/left paw, and the inflammation index was determined by examining infiltrating neutrophils with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Melatonin was found to reduce both paw thickness and the inflammation index in the mouse model, and melatonin also reduced the mRNA levels of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), IL-6 and NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. To mimic gouty inflammation in vitro, mouse peritoneal macrophages were stimulated with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) plus MSU. Melatonin was revealed to reduce IL-1β secretion by stimulated macrophages. The mRNA expression levels of IL-1β and IL-6 were also inhibited by melatonin. Western blot analysis showed that the expression of NLRP3, caspase-1 and pro-IL-1β was also inhibited by melatonin. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that melatonin alleviated gouty inflammation in vivo and in vitro, and the underlying mechanism may involve inhibiting the assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China

    Wen-ze Xiao, Li Zhao, Lin Cao, Xiao-xia Zhu & He-jian Zou

  2. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Fudan University Pudong Medical Center, Shanghai, 201300, China

    Wen-ze Xiao

Authors
  1. Wen-ze Xiao
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  2. Li Zhao
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  3. Lin Cao
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  4. Xiao-xia Zhu
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  5. He-jian Zou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to He-jian Zou.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest with any financial organization or corporation or individual that can inappropriately influence this work.

Additional information

The present study was supported by the Science and Technology Development Fund of Shanghai Pudong New Area (No. PKJ2018-Y36), PDH-SPFDU Joint Research Fund (RHJJ2018-02), the General Program of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning (No. 202040479) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82071830).

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Xiao, Wz., Zhao, L., Cao, L. et al. Melatonin Alleviates Acute Gouty Inflammation In Vivo and In Vitro. CURR MED SCI 41, 757–763 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-021-2362-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-021-2362-x

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