Effects of anti-rheumatic herbal medicines on cellular adhesion molecules

Objective-To test the hypothesis whether herbal medicines ameliorate inflammatory diseases via the modulation of cellular adhesion molecules (CAMs). Methods-Human neutrophils, synovial fibroblasts, and endothelial cells were incubated with different concentrations of Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook-f (TWH-f) or Tetrandrine in the presence pr absence of interleukin 1 (IL1). The amount of soluble E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) secreted by cells were determined by ELISA. The cell surface expression of these three CAMs was detected by flow cytometry. Results-TWH-f at high concentration (50 ng/ml) has a significant (p < 0.05) inhibitory effect on both the secretion and the expression of the cellular adhesion molecules. However, Tetrandrine did not demonstrate the same effects. Conclusions-The cellular adhesion molecules of the endothelium and leucocytes may constitute excellent targets for the development of new anti-inflammation medicines. These results indicate that TWH could be a potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of inflammatory diseases.