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Pharmacological support to anti-arthritic prospective of physostigmine: a new approach

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Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a slowly progressing inflammatory autoimmune disease. Several features are involved in the RA pathogenesis in addition to environmental and genetic factors. Previously it has been reported that acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) activity is enhanced in old age and may contribute in the progression of RA. The current experimental work was projected to assess the activity of physostigmine (a cholinesterase inhibitor) for treatment of RA. In vitro and in vivo approaches were used for such evaluation. However, enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) was performed to determine the concentrations of Prostaglandins E2 (PGE2) and tumor necrosis factor-α in arthritic rats after treatment with physostigmine. Moreover, anti-oxidant assays were employed to calculate the level of super oxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase peroxidase (CAT) in tissue of treated animals. The results claimed the dose dependent protective and stabilizing effect of physostigmine on denaturation of albumin (egg and bovine serum) protein and human red blood cell membrane, respectively, through in vitro studies. Furthermore, the physostigmine (10 and 20 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.001) reduced the swelling of paw after induction of arthritis with formaldehyde or complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) as compared to arthritic control animals. Moreover, significant (p < 0.001) reduction in the levels of inflammatory markers (PGE2 and TNF-α) at doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg of physostigmine has been observed in ELISA test. Likewise, there was a prominent rise in levels of SOD and CAT in animals treated with physostigmine. These findings pharmacologically conclude the anti-arthritic effect of physostigmine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan

    Haseeb Ahsan & Muhammad Naeem Qaisar

  2. Nawaz Sharif Medical College, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Pakistan

    Ihtisham Haider & Awais Asif

  3. Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacology, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

    Muhammad Naveed Mushtaq

  4. Department of Pharmacology, Sargodha Medical College, Sargodha, Pakistan

    Farwa Naqvi

Authors
  1. Haseeb Ahsan
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  2. Ihtisham Haider
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  3. Muhammad Naveed Mushtaq
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  4. Muhammad Naeem Qaisar
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  5. Farwa Naqvi
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  6. Awais Asif
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Contributions

The concept and idea of this project was given by HA and Dr. MNM; methodology and research work developed by Mr. IH and Dr. AA; writing original draft by Dr. FN and Dr. NQ; ELISA by Mr. IH.

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Correspondence to Haseeb Ahsan.

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The ethical approval was made by animal ethical Committee of University of Gujrat, Gujrat Pakistan (ethical approval no. UOG/AEC/20-38).

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Ahsan, H., Haider, I., Mushtaq, M.N. et al. Pharmacological support to anti-arthritic prospective of physostigmine: a new approach. Inflammopharmacol 29, 1119–1129 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-021-00840-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-021-00840-9

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