Combined methotrexate and coenzyme Q₁₀ therapy in adjuvant-induced arthritis evaluated using parameters of inflammation and oxidative stress.

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common severe joint disease that affects all age groups, it is thus of great importance to develop new strategies for its treatment. The aim of the present study was to examine the combined effect of coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10 ) and methotrexate (MTX) on the progression of adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Adjuvant arthritis (AA) was induced by a single intradermal injection of heat-inactivated Mycobacterium butyricum in incomplete Freund's adjuvant. The experiments included healthy animals, arthritic animals not treated, arthritic animals treated with CoQ 10 , with methotrexate, and with a combination of CoQ 10 and methotrexate. The two latter groups received a daily oral dose of 20 mg/kg b.w. of CoQ 10 , either alone or with methotrexate in an oral dose of 0.3 mg/kg b.w. twice a week. We found that CoQ 10 potentiated both the antiarthritic (decrease of hind paw volume) and the antioxidant effect of methotrexate on the level of oxidation of proteins (suppression of protein carbonyl level in plasma) as well as lipoperoxidation (suppression of levels of HNE-adducts and MDA-adducts to plasma proteins). The same effect was observed for plasmatic levels of CoQ 9 and IL-1α, and partially also for γ-glutamyltransferase activity assessed in joints and spleen. Moreover, the combination therapy improved the functionality of peripheral blood neutrophils in AA, with a balancing effect on the immunosuppression caused by MTX monotherapy. In summary, combined administration of CoQ 10 and methotrexate suppressed arthritic progression in rats more effectively than did MTX alone. This finding may help improve treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The possible therapeutic effect of ‘Chaetomium globosum’ fungal extract on experimentally induced rheumatoid arthritis

“…These findings were similar to the findings of many investigators [11,18]. Joint spaces were filled with exudates and inflammatory cells, mainly PNLs and spindle-shaped cells.…”

“…MTX (Orion Pharma, Espoo, Finland) was injected into group IV subcutaneously twice weekly for 2 weeks at a dose of 0.3 mg/kg [11].…”

Pharmacological influence on processes of adjuvant arthritis: effect of the combination of an antioxidant active substance with methotrexate

“…Methotrexate at a dose of 0.6 mg/kg body mass per week (Bauerova et al , 2010) suppressed but did not prevent arthritis development. The therapeutic effect of MTX was confirmed also by a significant reduction in the edema of the affected joints.…”

Coenzyme Q10 suppresses Th17 cells and osteoclast differentiation and ameliorates experimental autoimmune arthritis mice

“…It has also been documented that an important role of CoQ10 is to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which are involved in oxidative phosphorylation pathway within the mitochondrias [19]. Furthermore, CoQ10 has shown to suppress inflammation and arthritis where treatment induced an antiinflammatory response, anti-arthritic and anti-oxidative effect [20,21].…”