Abstract:

Objective  To investigate the effects of the total flavonoids of Bidens (TFB) on the joint swelling index, and the level of inflammatory factors, the toll-like receptor 4(TLR4) signal transduction pathway and the pathological score in the rats with adjuvant arthritis (AA). Methods  Totally 50 male SD rats were randomly divided into blank group, model group, TFB (40 mg/kg, 80 mg/kg, 160 mg/kg) group, each group was 10. The swelling index of joint in each group was compared, and the level of serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) was detected by radioimmunoassay. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of toll-like receptor 4(TLR4) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) in macrophages, and HE staining was used to evaluate the pathological score of rat joints. Results  The joint swelling index, the level of inflammatory factors, the expression of TLR4 and NF-κB in the model group were significantly higher than that in the blank group. In different doses of TFB group (40 mg/kg, 80 mg/kg; 160 mg/kg), the joint swelling index, inflammatory factor level, TLR4, NF-κB expression and pathological score were significantly lower than those in the model group (P<0.05), and the higher the dose of TFB, the lower the expression level of all the indexes. Conclusion  TFB has therapeutic effects on AA rats, and its mechanism may be related to reducing the joint swelling index and inflammatory factor level, inhibiting the expression of TLR4 and NF-kappa B, and preventing pannus formation.

Key words: Total flavonoids of Biden, Adjuvant arthritis, Inflammatory factor, Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor-kappa B signaling pathway, Radioimmunoassay, Western blotting, Rat