Anti-arthritic and antioxidant effects of trehalose in an experimental model of arthritis
Mitra Abbasifard, Amirhossein Sahebkar, Fatemeh Forouzanfar, Mohammad Moein Vakilzadeh, Ali Mehri, Ali Mohammad Pourbagher-Shahri, Shiva GanjaliBackground:
The purpose of the present study was to study the potential anti-arthritic and antioxidant effects of trehalose in an experimental model of complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritis.
Methods:
Arthritis was induced via subcutaneous injection of CFA (0.1) into the right footpad of each rat. Trehalose (10 mg/kg per day) and indomethacin (5 mg/kg) as a reference drug were intraperitoneally injected into CFA-induced arthritic rats from days 0 to 21. Changes in paw volume, pain responses, arthritic score, and oxidative/antioxidative parameters were determined.
Results:
Trehalose administration could significantly decrease arthritis scores (P<0.01) and paw edema (P<0.001), and significantly increase the nociceptive threshold (P<0.05) in CFA-induced arthritic rats. Trehalose also significantly reduced the pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance values when compared to CFA treatment alone. In addition, no significant difference was found between the trehalose group and indomethacin as a positive control group.
Conclusion:
The current study suggests that trehalose has a protective effect against arthritis, which may be mediated by antioxidative effects of this disaccharide.