title: Effects of shark cartilage polysaccharides on the secretion of IL-6 and IL-12 in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by inflammation of the synovial membrane, leading to articular cartilage destruction. Shark cartilage polysaccharide (SCP) is a biodegradable, biocompatible, nontoxic, non-immunogenic and non-inflammatory polysaccharide that may be used in treating RA.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The anti-RA activities of SCP given orally to rats are investigated here for the first time.
  
  
  METHODS
  SCP treatment group were administered with SCP-1, SCP-2 in the dosage of 9 mg/day for 24 days. The effect of SCP-1 and SCP-2 on the body weight, paw swelling, morphological changes of ankle and IL-6, IL-12 secretion in RA rats are examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On day 24, there were no obvious differences in BMI between positive, SCP-1 and SCP-2 group. The swelling degree of SCP-1 and SCP-2 group was less serious than model group. X-ray revealed that SCP-1, SCP-2 group owned normal joint alignment and more smooth and tidy articular surface. The SCP-1 and SCP-2 have inhibitory effect on IL-6 (430.3 ± 25.6 pg/mL, 439.1 ± 35.9 pg/mL) and IL-12 (63.9 ± 20.1 pg/mL, 64.9 ± 14.1 pg/mL) secretion, which showed significant differences with model group (612 ± 72.3 pg/mL, 230.1 ± 29.2 pg/mL), but still higher than normal group (361.8 ± 47.1 pg/mL, 34.2 ± 15.1 pg/mL) and lower than positive group (418.1 ± 42.5 pg/mL, 90.2 ± 17.8 pg/mL). Especially, when the concentration of SCP was 125 μg/mL, the contents of IL-6 (431.1 ± 43.3 pg/mL, 401.7 ± 55.7 pg/mL) and IL-12 (63.2 ± 12.3 pg/mL, 52.3 ± 8.7 pg/mL) were lowest.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrate that SCP have excellent anti-RA activities and thus have great potential as a drug for treating RA diseases.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacy, Shandong Traffic Hospital, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chuan-Ying
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D001175:Arthrography; D002356:Cartilage / Q000737:chemistry*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004487:Edema / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood*; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D007596:Joints / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000494:pharmacology; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012754:Sharks; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D015850:Interleukin-6; D011134:Polysaccharides; D018664:Interleukin-12; D008727:Methotrexate