Background Ozone is a new treatment method, study confirmed that the ozone intra-articular injection can reduce the level of TNFR II CIA in rat synovial TNF-a, synovial tissue, the regulation of rat apoptosis inhibiting gene Bcl-2 decreased expression of proapoptotic gene Bax expression increased, thereby promoting apoptosis of synovial cells. However, there are few reports on the effects of ozone on the inflammatory cytokines such as serum TNF-a in the pathogenesis of RA.

Objectives To observe the effects of intra-articular ozone iniection on the contents of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),Interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-17A,and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)in the serum of rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and explore the therapeutic mechanism of ozone in RA treatment.

Methods Thrity-two Wistar rats were randomized into 4 groups,including ozone groups receiving intra-articularinjection of 40 μg/ml ozone (O₃ group), Ca blank control group (normal group), a methotrexate group (MTX group) and a collagen-induced arthritismodel (CIA group). All the rats, except for those in the blank control group, were subjected to hypodermic iniection of bovine collagen II and complete Freund'S adiuvant to induce CIA. DOzone treatment was administered once weekly for 3 weeks starting at 14 days after the modeling.MTX group of 0.9 mg/kg, once a week, a total of three weeks.The swelling degree of the foot were observed,the serum contents of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-17A and VEGF were detected. One-way analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis test was used to evaluate the experimental data.

Results At the end of treatment,the foot swelling degree was reduced significantly in rats with O₃ group compared with that in the CIA group [4.21±0.14 ml and 9.12±0.17 ml, t=8.43, P=0.023]. The serum contents of TNF-a, IL-6 and VEGF showed significant difference between the CIA group and O₃ group [93.86±12.49 pg/ml and 14.33±1.85 pg/ml, c²=6.216, P=0.002; 189.12±164.62 pg/ml and 5.84 (5.47,15.93) pg/ml, c²=13.136, P=0.00451.56 (46.09,74.10) pg/ml and 37.77±7.88 pg/ml, c²=3.732, CP=0.002, there was no statistically significant difference between the O₃ group and MTX group [14.33±1.85 pg/ml and 12.45 (11.8,15.6)) pg/ml, c²=0.243, P>0.05; 5.84 (5.47,15.93 pg/ml, vs 9.59±5.13 pg/ml, c²=0.058, P>0.05; 37.77±7.88 pg/ml and 41.99±8.78 pg/ml, c²=0.516, P>0.05]. The serum contents of IL-17A showed no significant difference between the normal group,CIA group,MTX group and the O₃ group (F=1.827, P=0.165).

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Conclusions Intra-articular iniecfion of 40 ug/ml ozone Can attenuate svnovitis in rats with CIA, the mechanism of which may involve the inhibition of TNF-a, IL-6 and VEGF in the serum.

References

1. Huiqiang Chen,Bin Yu.Efficacy and Mechanism of Using Different Concentrations Ozone to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis Rats[D]. Southern Medical University, 2011.

2. Vaillant JD, Fraga A, Díaz MT, et al.Ozone oxidative postconditioning ameliorates joint damage and decreases pro-inflammatory cytokinelevels and oxidative stress in PG/PS-induced arthritis in rats[J]. EurJ Pharmacol 2013;14(1–3):318–324. doi:10.1016/j.ejphar.2013.07.034.

3. Bocci V, Borrelli E, Travag li V, et al. The ozone paradox: ozone is a strong oxidant as well as a medical drug[J]. Med Res Rev, 2009;29(4):646–682. doi:10.1002/med.20150.

References

Acknowledgements Thanks to my tutor, my parterner, and the group medical staff.

Disclosure of Interest None declared