Paeonol ameliorates monosodium urate‐induced arthritis in rats through inhibiting nuclear factor‐κB‐mediated proinflammatory cytokine production

Abstract

Moutan Cortex has been widely used to treat various types of arthritis in traditional Chinese medicine. Paeonol is isolated as an active ingredient from Moutan Cortex. However, the effect and potential mechanism of paeonol on gouty arthritis have not been evaluated. In this study, rats were treated intragastrically with paeonol for consecutive 7 days. On Day 5, rats were intra‐articularly injected with monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in the ankle joints to induce MSU‐induced arthritis (MIA). Paw volume was detected at various time points. Gait score was measured at 24 hr after MSU crystal injection. Ankle joints were collected for evaluation of histological score and expression of proinflammatory cytokines using hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry staining, respectively. Nuclear level of nuclear factor (NF)‐κBp65 in synovial tissues was analyzed by western blot assay. NF‐κB DNA‐binding activity was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Paeonol markedly lowered the paw volume, gait score, and histological score in MIA rats. Mechanistically, paeonol markedly reduced the expression of TNF‐α, IL‐1β, and IL‐6 in synovial tissues of MIA rats. In addition, the elevated level of p65 in nucleus and NF‐κB DNA‐binding activity in synovial tissues of MIA rats were reduced significantly by paeonol treatment. These findings suggest that paeonol exerts anti‐inflammatory effect in MIA rats through inhibiting expression of proinflammatory cytokines and NF‐κB activation.

Paeonol protects against testicular ischaemia‐reperfusion injury in rats through inhibition of oxidative stress and inflammation

“…The current results showed that paeonol exerted anti‐inflammatory effects on IR testes by downregulating TNF‐α gene expression as well as IL‐1β and IL‐6 protein expression. Paeonol displayed the same anti‐inflammatory effects in monosodium urate‐induced arthritis in rats (Chen et al, 2019) and lipopolysaccharides‐induced acute lung injury in mice (Wang, Zhu, et al, 2019). Moreover, paeonol protected against endoplasmic reticulum stress‐associated inflammation in lead‐stimulated kidneys (Liu et al, 2018) and IL‐1β‐induced inflammatory response in human primary chondrocytes (Wang, Xu, Kang, Zhang, & Li, 2019).…”

The Possible Contribution of P-Glycoprotein in the Protective Effect of Paeonol against Methotrexate-Induced Testicular Injury in Rats

“…Paeonol, a phenolic active constituent isolated from the genus Paeonia , possesses remarkable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, which are beneficial in many diseases, such as gastric ulcer [ 15 ], hypertension [ 16 ], arthritis [ 17 ], and epilepsy [ 18 ]. Recently, we have demonstrated that paeonol can also protect against testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury [ 19 ].…”

Chemical Fingerprinting and Quantitative Analysis of Cortex Moutan From Different Tree Peony Cultivars Using HPLC-ESI/MS

“…8,10 Pharmacological evidence suggests that paeonol has antibacterial, antiaggregation, antianxiety, and antiinflammation effects. 8,[10][11][12][13][14] In fact, unlike single chemical entities aimed at a specific single target, traditional Chinese medicines are complex mixtures containing hundreds of diverse chemical constituents. 15 Therefore, traditional Chinese medicines are too complicated to investigate comprehensively their quality consistency effectively with a single detection technique.…”