Combination therapy of dexamethasone with epigallocatechin enhances tibiotarsal bone articulation and modulates oxidative status correlates with cartilage cytokines expression in the early phase of experimental arthritis

Souvik Roy, Santanu Sannigrahi, Balaram Ghosh, Priyanka Puspc, Tathagata Roy

Abstract

The inclusion of antioxidant for the treatment of arthritis, especially under the therapy withimmunosuppressant, is motivated because antioxidant plays an essential role in disease progression and moreover, immunosuppressive treatment suffers redox homeostasisbalance of the organism. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the enhancement of anti-arthritic effect of dexamethasone in combination with epigallocatechin on the progression of adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Adjuvant arthritic rats were treated with dexamethasone (0.2 mg/kg), epigallocatechin (100 mg/kg) and combination of dexamethasone (0.1 mg/kg) with epigallocatechin (100 mg/kg) daily for a period of 28 days. Paw swelling changes, estimation of serum albumin level, alteration of bone mineral density, histopathological, and radiographical analysis were assessed to evaluate the anti-arthritic effect. Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities in joint tissue homogenate were performed along with the expression of different pro-inflammatory cartilage cytokines likeTNF-α and IL-6. Dexamethasone and epigallocatechin combination potentiated both the antiarthritic (decrease of hind paw volume) and the antioxidant effect (lipid peroxidation,

 Epigallocatechin was obtained from Chengdu Biopurify Phytochemicals Limited (China).