Background and PurposeAnnexin A1 (AnxA1) is an endogenous anti‐inflammatory protein and agonist of the formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2). However, the potential for therapeutic FPR ligands to modify immune‐mediated disease has been little explored. We investigated the effects of a synthetic FPR agonist on joint disease in the K/BxN model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and RA fibroblast‐like synoviocytes (FLS).Experimental ApproachArthritis was induced by injection of K/BxN serum at day 0 and 2 in wild‐type (WT) or AnxA1−/− mice and clinical and histopathological manifestations measured 8–11 days later. WT mice were given the FPR agonist compound 43 (Cpd43) (6 or 30 mg·kg−1 i.p.) for 4 days. Effects of AnxA1 and Cpd43 on RANKL‐induced osteoclastogenesis were assessed in RAW 264.7 cells and human RA FLS and macrophages.Key ResultsTreatment with Cpd43 before or after the onset of arthritis reduced clinical disease severity and attenuated synovial TNF‐α and osteoclast‐associated gene expression. Deletion of AnxA1 in mice exacerbated arthritis severity in the K/BxN model. In vitro, Cpd43 suppressed osteoclastogenesis and NFAT activity elicited by RANKL, and inhibited IL‐6 secretion by mouse macrophages. In human RA joint‐derived FLS and monocyte‐derived macrophages, Cpd43 treatment inhibited IL‐6 release, while blocking FPR2 or silencing AnxA1 increased this release.Conclusions and ImplicationsThe FPR agonist Cpd43 reduced osteoclastogenesis and inflammation in a mouse model of RA and exhibited anti‐inflammatory effects in relevant human cells. These data suggest that FPR ligands may represent novel therapeutic agents capable of ameliorating inflammation and bone damage in RA.

In recent years, the demand for natural herbal products (NHP) has increased; however, the quality of these products is difficult to confirm due to the lack of a comprehensive quality control system. Traditional methods are not effective in detecting processed ingredients. DNA barcoding is an established technique that has been used for more than 10 years. This technique uses short standard sequences (generally 200–600 bp) to identify species. While a complete DNA barcode is difficult to obtain from NHP due to DNA degradation, mini-barcoding is a complementary tool to identify species in NHP. DNA mini-barcoding uses smaller DNA segments for polymerase chain reaction amplification and can be applied to identify species rapidly. The present review summarizes the development and application of DNA mini-barcodes over recent years and discusses the limitations of this technique. This review also compares mini-barcoding and meta-barcoding, a technique using universal polymerase chain reaction primers to simultaneously amplify multiple DNA barcodes and identify many species in a single environmental sample. Additionally, other detection methods that can be combined with mini-barcodes, such as nucleotide signatures, high-resolution DNA melting analysis, and gold nanoparticles, are discussed. DNA mini-barcoding can fill the gaps left by other methods in the field of herbal molecular identification.

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