title: Anti-arthritic activity of Xanthium strumarium L. extract on complete Freund׳s adjuvant induced arthritis in rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Xanthium strumarium L. fruit (Xanthiu fruit) has been traditionally used as a medicinal herb in China for the treatment of many ailments including rheumatoid arthritis. However, the anti-arthritic activity of Xanthium strumarium fruit has still not been demonstrated. In the present study, we confirmed that the extract of Xanthium strumarium (EXS) prevents rheumatoid arthritis induced by Complete Freund׳s Adjuvant (CFA) in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male Wistar rats (160±10 g) were immunized by intradermal injection of 0.1 mL of CFA into the left hind metatarsal footpad. EXS was administered orally at a dose of 300 and 75 mg/kg once a day after the induction of adjuvant arthritis. Methotrexate (3 mg/kg, twice a week) was used as a positive control. Paw swelling, arthritic score, body weight loss, spleen index, thymus index, serum cytokines, inflammatory mediators and histological change were measured. The chemical profile of EXS was analyzed by HPLC-DAD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that the EXS significantly suppressed paw swelling and arthritic score, increased body weight loss and decreased the thymus index. The overproduction of TNF-α and IL-1β were remarkably suppressed in the serum of all EXS-treated rats, and in contrast IL-10 was markedly increased. The level of COX-2 and 5-LOX was also decreased with EXS treatment. Ten phenolic acid derivatives were identified from 14 detected peaks by HPLC-DAD with the reference substances and verified by LC-MS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest the potential effect of EXS as an anti-arthritis agent towards CFA-induced arthritis in rats. Xanthium strumarium has the potential to be regarded as a candidate for use in general therapeutics and as an immune-modulatory medicine in rheumatoid arthritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan Military Region, PLA, Ji׳nan 250014, PR China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan Military Region, PLA, Ji׳nan 250014, PR China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical analysis, School of Pharmacy, NingXia Medical University, 1160 Shenli Street, Yinchuan 750004, PR China.
authors.forename: Xue-Qin
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK.
authors.forename: Khalid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
authors.forename: Cheng-Jian
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai 200433, PR China. Electronic address: qinsmmu@126.com.
authors.forename: Lu-Ping
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 325 Guohe Road, Shanghai 200433, PR China. Electronic address: hanting@smmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005620:Freund's Adjuvant; D005638:Fruit; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000494:pharmacology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood; D031210:Xanthium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10; D005620:Freund's Adjuvant; D008727:Methotrexate
keywords: Adjuvant arthritis; Anti-arthritis; Inflammation; Xanthium strumarium L.