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The present study was intended to elucidate the effect of rutin, a flavonoid, on arthritis in complete Freund's adjuvantinduced arthritic rats. The present study showed that more pronounced effect has been observed in the case of 15 mg/kg dose of rutin, with significant reduction in paw diameter together with positive modulation of hematological parameters as compared to 2 other tested doses. A significant upsurge in the level of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione were observed together with decrease in the level of malondialdehyde after treatment with rutin in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the effect of rutin on the tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in arthritic rats showed does-dependent lowering of these cytokines with maximum benefit at 15 mg/kg dose and the level of both NF-κB p65 and NF-κBp65 (Ser536) has been significantly reduced in the presence of rutin. Histopathological examination showed that the inflammatory cells infiltration, synovial hyperplasia, pannus formation and cartilage and bone erosion had considerably improved on administration of rutin. In conclusion, our paper strongly demonstrated the protective effect of rutin against the rheumatoid arthritis involved via suppression of NF-κB p65 protein expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of a weekly dose of leflunomide (50 mg/week) in early rheumatoid arthritis patients with mild or moderate disease activity. Methods The patients of early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) with mild or moderate disease activity were randomly selected for inclusion in this study and were assigned to either the treatment group (leflunomide 50 mg/week, LEF50) or the control group (leflunomide 10 mg/day, LEF10). All patients were treated for 24 weeks. Clinical efficacy was assessed using the disease activity score in 28 joints ( DAS28) - erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and European League Against Rheumatism ( EULAR) response. A Chi-squared test, Fisher's exact-test and paired t-tests were used to analyze the data. Results A total of 244 patients who met the inclusion criteria and received at least one medicine dose were analyzed. At the baseline, the DAS28 (ESR) of the ERA patients were 4.41 ± 0.69 in LEF 50 group and 4.52 ± 0.64 in LEF 10 group, respectively. At week 24, the DAS28 (ESR) in two groups ( 2.94 ± 1.10 and 3.02 ± 1.14 ) were significant decreased compare with the baseline, respectively ( P<0.01). There was no significant difference in DAS28 (ESR) between the LEF50 and LEF10 groups at week 24. ( P > 0.05). At weeks 8, 12 and 24, the EULAR response (good responses + moderate responses) were 47.6%, 58.7% and 59.5%, in the LEF50 group and 43.2%, 49.1% and 53.4% in the LEF10 group, respectively. There was no significant different of EULAR response rates in the two groups at week 8, 12, and 24, respectively ( P>0.05). There was no serious adverse events during the study. Conclusion A weekly dose of 50 mg leflunomide showed similar benefits to a daily dose of 10 mg leflunomide for the treatment of mild-to-moderate early rheumatoid arthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]