Coral as Treatment for Arthritis

Rhematoid Arthritis is a disease that has shown promising results when treated with coral natural products. Arthritis causes joint destruction and is a chronic inflammatory disease.

Public Library of Science or PLoS has recently published an article showing that a cembrane type compound – 11-epi-sinulariolide acetate (Ya-s11) was isolated from Sinularia quericiformis, a soft coral. It was then evaluated in vitro in its anti inflammatory potency also in AIA or adjuvant induced arthritis in rats {1}.

Experiments have used AIA, which is the murine equal to rheumatoid arthritis in humans, to test treatment possibilities. The production of COX-2 and iNOS – proinflammatory proteins found in murine macrophages – was strongly inhibited by Ya-s11. By inflammatory cells being inhibited from moving to the joints, the effects of arthritis in AIA mice was severely reduced by Ya-s11.

It was concluded by the researchers that treatment for humans affected by rheumatoid arthritis may be found in this molecule.

Through the use of herbal products, AIA attenuation in rats has been demonstrated {2}.

The point being made here is that even though different methods of evaluation of effectiveness were used by investigators, there is potential treatment of arthritis through natural methods be it animal or plant.

References

1. Y.Y. Lin, H.Jean, H.P. Lee et al., “A soft coral-derived compound, 11-epi-sinulariolide acetate suppresses inflammatory response and bone destruction in adjuvant-induced arthritis,” PloS ONE, vol.8, no. 5, Article ID e62926, 2013.

2. H. Yu, D.Y. W. Lee, S.M. Nanjundaiah, S.H. Venkatesha, B.M. Berman, and K.D. Moudgil, “Microarray analysis reveals the molecular basis of antiarthritic activity of hou-lou-xiao-ling dan,” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 2013, Article ID 524746, 8 pages, 2013.