SUPPRESSIVE EFFECTS OF TRIPTERYGIUM-WILFORDII HOOK F, A TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE, ON COLLAGEN ARTHRITIS IN MICE

The effect of chloroform extract of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f. (TW H extract), a traditional immunosuppressive Chinese herb, on type II c ollagen (C II)-induced arthritis (CIA) in DBA/1J mice was studied. In the first set of experiments, we examined the effect of TWH extract on cellular immune responses to C II. As compared with mice treated with saline, TWH extract administered orally at doses of more than 400 mu g kg(-1) once a day for 14 days inhibited the ability of inguinal lymp h node cells to produce T cell cytokines interleukin-2 and interferon- gamma when the cells were obtained from mice 21 days after immunizatio n and cultured in vitro with C II. Treatment with TWH extract also inh ibited production of macrophage cytokines interleukin-1 beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in response to in vitro stimulation of lymph no de cells with C II. In the second part of the experiment, we evaluated the influence of TWH extract on the incidence and development of arth ritis in murine CIA. Mice were immunized twice at a 3-week interval wi th bovine C II, with TWH extract being given orally once a day for 14 days with four different regimens. A 14-day course of TWH extract trea tment at a daily dose of 400 mu g kg(-1), which began on the day of th e first C II immunization, suppressed the development of arthritis, as well as antibody production and delayed-type hypersensitivity to C II . Treatment with TWH extract, which started on the same day as the boo ster immunization, also resulted in inhibition of development of arthr itis and of immune responses to C ii. On the other hand, therapeutic a dministration with TWH extract did not affect the clinical course of t he disease and the immune response to C II. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.