Iguratimod inhibits the expression of inflammatory factors in degenerative intervertebral disc cells / 医学研究生学报

ABSTRACT

Objective Overexpressed inflammatory factors play an important role in the process of intervertebral disc degeneration. This study aimed to investigate the effect of iguratimod on the expression of inflammatory factors in degenerative intervertebral disc cells. Methods Sixty 8-12 weeks old SD rats were equally randomized into a compression (the tail compressed by external fixation) and a non-compression control group. The nucleus pulposus cells (NPC) of the degenerated intervertebral disc were isolated and treated with iguratimod at the concentrations of 0, 0.3, 3, 10, 20, and 30 μg/mL, followed by measurement of the contents of inflammatory factors and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) secreted from the NPCs and determination of the effects of different concentrations of iguratimod on the expressions of inflammation-related genes in the NPCs by RT-PCR. Results After treatment with iguratimod at 3, 10, 20, and 30 μg/mL, the expression levels of IL-6 in the NPCs were (204.18 ± 6.96), (122.73 ± 9.38), (97.87 ± 7.81), and (86.31 ± 8.57) pg/mL, respectively, and those of TNF-α were (202.46 ± 7.84), (132.52 ± 11.4), (101.26 ± 10.38), and (96.89 ± 9.60) pg/mL, respectively, all decreased significantly in a concentration-dependent manner (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the contents of MMP-2, MMP-3 and MMP-9 in the iguratimod-treated NPCs also showed remarkable concentration-dependent decreases (P < 0.05). Conclusion Iguratimod can effectively inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors in nucleus pulposus cells and block the progression of inflammatory response, which has provided a new idea for the treatment of degenerative intervertebral disc disease.