Abstract:To explore the intervention and anti-inflammatory effects of an extract from Platycodon grandiflorum on joint swelling in rats with rheumatoid arthritis, fifty-five SD rats were selected, with five as the normal group, and the remaining 50 rats established as rheumatoid arthritis models (which were divided into the model group, drug control group, and low, medium and high concentration groups, respectively). The paw volume, arthritis index, and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), interleukin-8 (IL-8), C-reactive protein (CRP) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured. The results showed that: On the 1st, 7th, 14th and 20th day after modeling, the paw volume of the rats in the high concentration group was 2.12 mL, 2.60 mL, 2.93 mL and 2.49 mL, respectively, and the arthritis index was 2.03, 2.86, 5.25 and 4.37, respectively, which were lower than those of the other four groups (p < 0.05); the levels of MDA, IL-8, CRP and TNF-α in the high concentration group were 21.46 μmol/L, 101.33 pg/mL, 4.34 mg/L and 4.8 mg/L, respectively, and the levels of SOD and GSH-Px were 86.11 nU/mL and 85.37 U/L, respectively, which were higher than those of the other four groups (p<0.05). The extract from Platycodon grandiflorum could reduce the degree of joint swelling in rats with rheumatoid arthritis, improve antioxidant capacity while inhibiting inflammation.
