Immunomodulatory activity of a Chinese herbal drug Yi Shen Juan Bi in adjuvant arthritis.

Objective: To investigate the immunomodulating mechanisms of a Chinese herbal medicine Yi Shen Juan Bi (YJB) in treatment of adjuvant arthritis (AA) in rats.
Materials and Methods: Levels of serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) were measured by the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Expression of TNF-alpha mRNA and IL-1beta mRNA in synovial cells was measured with the semi-quantitative technique of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), while caspase-3 was examined by western blot analysis.
Results: The administration of YJB significantly decreased the production of serum TNF-alpha and IL-1beta. It also decreased significantly the TNF-alpha mRNA, IL-1beta mRNA, and caspase-3 expression in synoviocytes.
Conclusions: YJB produces the immunomodulatory effects by downregulating the over-activated cytokines, while it activates caspase-3, which is the key executioner of apoptosis in the immune system. This may be the one of the underlying mechanisms that explains how YJB treats the rheumatoid arthritis.