title: Aconitine: A potential novel treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aconitum plants have been widely used in China for thousands of years. Recent evidences indicate that aconitine, the main active ingredient of Aconitum, has immunomodulatory properties that might be useful for treating autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. In this study, we conducted a pilot study to explore the effect and mechanisms of aconitine on the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pristane-induced murine model was used. The pristane-induced mice were treated with aconitine (25, 75 μg kg-1d-1, po) for 9 weeks. Every three weeks, proteinuria was detected to monitor the kidney damage and blood was collected to measure serum levels of autoantibodies, besides the kidney pathological examination. The major B cell activating factor and major pro-inflammatory mediators, PGE2, IL-17a and IL-6, were also detected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that aconitine significantly improved the mouse health, decreased the elevated blood leukocyte counts, reduced the serum level of anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibody, greatly ameliorated renal histopathologic damage and reduced IgG deposit in glomerular. Furtherly, the levels of PGE2, IL-17a and IL-6, were found to have decreased in aconitine treated mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have demonstrated that aconitine can inhibit the progression of disease and ameliorate the pathologic lesion of systemic lupus erythematosus.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China; Gansu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou 730050, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
authors.forename: Liwei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China. Electronic address: jyshen@icmm.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jianying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000157:Aconitine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D015232:Dinoprostone; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010865:Pilot Projects; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000473:pathology; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D013729:Terpenes
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D016207:Cytokines; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D013729:Terpenes; C009042:pristane; D015232:Dinoprostone; D000157:Aconitine
keywords: Aconitine; Autoantibodies; Pristane-induced lupus (PIL); Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)