Anti-inflammatory effect of clearing-away-heat-promoting-diuresis and Wen-yang herbs on inflammatory signaling pathways in acute gout

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the regulatory effect of clearing away, heat-promoting diuresis and Wen yang herbs (CHPW) on acute gout IL-1β inflammatory signaling pathways in rats and cell lines. Methods: Thirty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into five groups: saline (SA group, SA-sodium urate (SA-SU) group, Colchicine-SU (Col-SU) group, CPHW-SU group, and clearing away heat-promoting diuresis-SU (CHP-SU) group. The cell line RAW264.7 groups were RAW264.7-A, RAW264.7-B, RAW264.7-C and RAW264.7-D. For the above cell groups, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the effects of drugs on macrophage proliferation, and levels of IL-1β and other inflammatory factors, while quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to assay NALP3 mRNA expression. The protein expressions of p-IRAK4, IRAK4, p-P65, P65, NALP3, and caspase-1 were measured using Western blot assay. Results: Compared with SA-SU group, CHPW reduced gout symptoms in the joint, and reduced levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and IL-1β (p < 0.05). Compared with the SA group, the relative expression of NALP3 increased significantly in the SA-SU group (p < 0.05). The relative expression of NALP3 in CHPW and CHP groups decreased significantly, relative to the SA-SU group (p < 0.05). However, the expressions of p-IRAK4, IRAK 4 and p65 was basically unchanged (p > 0.05). Protein expression levels of NALP3 and caspase-1 were higher in SA-SU group, but lower in CHPW and CHP groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: CHPW exerts a protective effect against acute gout by downregulating the IL-1β inflammatory signaling pathway and decreasing the expression levels of NALP3 and p-P65. Thus, CHPW has a potential for use as a new therapeutic agent for gout.