Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, leading to progressive destruction of joints and extra-articular tissues, including organs such as liver and spleen. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a potential immunomodulator, natural polyphenol N-feruloylserotonin (N-f-5HT), with methotrexate (MTX), the standard in RA therapy, in the chronic phase of adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) in male Lewis rats. The experiment included healthy controls (CO), arthritic animals (AA), AA given N-f-5HT (AA-N-f-5HT), and AA given MTX (AA-MTX). N-f-5HT did not affect the body weight change and clinical parameters until the 14th experimental day. Its positive effect was rising during the 28-day experiment, indicating a delayed onset of N-f-5HT action. Administration of either N-f-5HT or MTX caused reduction of inflammation measured as the level of CRP in plasma and the activity of LOX in the liver. mRNA transcription of TNF-α and iNOS in the liver was significantly attenuated in both MTX and N-f-5HT treated groups of arthritic rats. Interestingly, in contrast to MTX, N-f-5HT significantly lowered the level of IL-1β in plasma and IL-1β mRNA expression in the liver and spleen of arthritic rats. This speaks for future investigations of N-f-5HT as an agent in the treatment of RA in combination therapy with MTX.

• MeSH
• Arachidonate Lipoxygenases genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Arthritis, Experimental drug therapy   genetics   pathology   MeSH
• Biomarkers MeSH
• C-Reactive Protein MeSH
• Time Factors MeSH
• Cytokines blood   genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Liver drug effects   metabolism   MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Inflammation Mediators * MeSH
• Methotrexate pharmacology   MeSH
• Disease Models, Animal MeSH
• Organ Specificity MeSH
• Gene Expression Regulation drug effects   MeSH
• Serotonin analogs & derivatives   pharmacology   MeSH
• Severity of Illness Index MeSH
• Transcriptome * MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Arachidonate Lipoxygenases MeSH
• Biomarkers MeSH
• C-Reactive Protein MeSH
• Cytokines MeSH
• Inflammation Mediators * MeSH
• Methotrexate MeSH
• N-feruloylserotonin MeSH Browser
• Serotonin MeSH