Effects of sinomenine on the proliferation, cytokine production, and regulatory T‐cell frequency in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of rheumatoid arthritis patients

Abstract

Sinomenine (SN) is a plant‐derived alkaloid isolated from Caulis Sinomenii. It has been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration of China for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) nearly 20 years ago. To investigate the anti‐RA mechanism of SN, a lot of scholars reported the immunosuppressive effect of SN on T lymphocytes. We continued to evaluate the suppressive function of SN by using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from RA patients. As the positive control, 10 ng/ml of methylprednisolone (MP) showed the antiproliferation effect on mitogen‐activated PBMCs of RA patients significantly (*p < .05). Meanwhile, MP decreased the frequency of CD4+ CD25+ T cells and suppressed the secretion of inflammatory Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokines such as IL‐4, IL‐6, IL‐10, IL‐17, IFN‐γ, and TNF‐α. However, SN at concentrations of 0.3–30 μM, showed little suppressive effects on the proliferation of PBMCs of RA patients. We did not observe any suppressive effects of SN on percentages of CD4+ T cells and CD4+ CD25+ T cells in the mitogen‐activated PBMCs of RA patients. The influence of SN on the percentage of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ T cells was also limited. Finally, even 30 μM of SN did not influence the secretion of Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokine significantly. The present study provided evidence that anti‐RA mechanism of SN seems not to be related with the suppressive effects on peripheral T cells.

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis-Like Reaction Following Combination Therapy With Camrelizumab and Apatinib for Advanced Gallbladder Carcinoma

“…On Day 10, the levels of all cytokines except IFN-g significantly decreased (Figure 3C), concomitant with the improvement of rash. These findings might be attributed to the use of methylprednisolone, as a previous study demonstrated that methylprednisolone could decrease the peripheral cytokine levels (i.e., IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IFN-g, and TNF-a) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (32). Moreover, it might be possible that IFN-g levels on Day 2 had decreased significantly because during that time, methylprednisolone had already been used for four days.…”

Changes in rheumatoid arthritis under ultrasound before and after sinomenine injection

“…Therefore, the basic principles of disease treatment are to promote blood circulation, relieve pain, detoxify and dredge collaterals, dispel wind, and remove dampness[ 17 ]. Sinomenine, an alkaloid extracted from Caulis sinomenii , can inhibit bone destruction and inflammatory reactions, relax tendons and activate blood, expel wind, and remove dampness without inducing significant side effects[ 18 ]. Zhengqing Fengtongning injection is a Chinese medicinal preparation extracted from sinomenine.…”

The bone-protective mechanisms of active components from TCM drugs in rheumatoid arthritis treatment

“…Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org (0.3-30 μM) has been defined as having a limited effect on Th cells and Treg cells from mitogen-activated PBMCs isolated from RA patients in vitro (Xu et al, 2021). As previously reported, intraperitoneal injection of sinomenine (20 mg/kg) failed to achieve expected efficacy in CIA rats (Tong et al, 2015).…”

“…In vitro , sinomenine treatment (1 mM) suppressed the proliferation and secretion of TNF-α and IL-17 in PBMCs activated by type II collagen (CII) ( Tong et al, 2015 ). Interestingly, sinomenine (0.3–30 μM) has been defined as having a limited effect on Th cells and Treg cells from mitogen-activated PBMCs isolated from RA patients in vitro ( Xu et al, 2021 ). As previously reported, intraperitoneal injection of sinomenine (20 mg/kg) failed to achieve expected efficacy in CIA rats ( Tong et al, 2015 ).…”