RESUMO
Abstract Objective:To establish an animal model of experimental rheumatoid arthritis(RA) and to investigate the preventing effect of orally administrated soluble chicken II collagen(CCII) on RA. Methods:The animal model of RA was induced in Wistar rats by immunization of intradermal injection with CCII in Fneund's complete adjuvant(CFA) .The arthritis degree of the experimental and control group was pros-pected and the serum levels of anti-CCII antibody were analyzed by ELISA method. Results:The RA in Wistar rats were successfully induced with CCII-CFA and the incidence of RA was 90% .The clinical expression of the disease was suppressed whether animals were fed with CCII before or relapsing sensitization. The incidence of RA was dramatically decreased in animals which were fed with CCII before disease induction, and the duration of disease was shorted significantly in animals which were fed with CCII. In addition, DTH responses to whole CCII were sup-pressed. The result of ELISA analysis showed that oral administration of soluble CCII partially suppressed Ab production. Conclusion:RA can be prevented by oral administration of CCII to induce specific immunological tolerance.