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Ginsenoside Metabolite Compound K Alleviates Adjuvant-Induced Arthritis by Suppressing T Cell Activation

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Abstract

Ginsenoside metabolite compound K (CK) is the degradation product of ginsenosides in the intestine by bacteria and has many pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory effects. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory and autoimmune disease characterized by chronic synovial inflammation and articular damage in multiple joints. However, the effect of CK on RA remains unclear. In this study, the effect of CK on adjuvant arthritis (AA) and the underlying mechanisms that focused on T cell activation were investigated. Complete Freund’s adjuvant was used to induce AA rats. After the onset of arthritis, rats were given CK (10, 40, and 160 mg/kg) or MTX (0.5 mg/kg). To evaluate the severity of arthritis, arthritis index and paw swelling were evaluated every 3 days. Histopathology of joint and spleen were assayed. Subsets of T cells including CD4 + CD62L+ (naïve T cells), CD4 + CD25+ (activated T cells), and CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3+ cells (Treg) and CD25 expression were assayed by flow cytometry. Proliferation of T cell was evaluated by 3H-TdR. IL-2 level was assayed by ELISA. We found that CK attenuated arthritis index and paw swelling, restored the histopathological change of joint and spleen, downregulated the percentage of activated T cells, and upregulated naïve T cells and Treg cells in spleen. CK significantly suppressed T cell activation (as indicated by T cell proliferation, CD25 expression, and IL-2 production). In conclusion, our results suggest that CK alleviates autoimmune arthritis by suppressing T cell activation.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Nos. 30973543, 81173075, 81330081, and 31200675), Anhui Province Nature Science Foundation in the University (No. KJ2011Z180), Foundation for Outstanding Young Talents in Higher Education Institutions of Anhui Province (No. 2012SQRL268), and Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. 1208085QH158).

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Pharmacology Institute, Key Laboratory of Antiinflammatory and Immune Medicine, Ministry of Education, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Shushan District, 230032, Hefei, China

    Jingyu Chen, Huaxun Wu, Qingtong Wang, Yan Chang, Kangkang Liu, Shasha Song, Pingfan Yuan, Jingjing Fu, Wuyi Sun, Qiong Huang, Lihua Liu, Yujing Wu, Yunfang Zhang, Aiwu Zhou & Wei Wei

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  1. Jingyu Chen
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  2. Huaxun Wu
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Correspondence to Wei Wei.

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Chen, J., Wu, H., Wang, Q. et al. Ginsenoside Metabolite Compound K Alleviates Adjuvant-Induced Arthritis by Suppressing T Cell Activation. Inflammation 37, 1608–1615 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-014-9887-0

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