A Natural Plant Ingredient, Menthone, Regulates T Cell Subtypes and Lowers Pro-inflammatory Cytokines of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Xiangjie Chen, Qiuyu Wu, Zheng Gong, Tengfei Ren, Qian Du, Yukang Yuan, Yibo Zuo, Ying Miao, Jiuyi He, Caixia Qiao, Zhijin Zheng, Tingting Zhang, Lin Huang, Zhijun Xie, Jun Wang, Yueping Zhu, Chuanwu Zhu, Yang Xu, Depei Wu, Fang‐Yuan Gong, Junping Cheng, Chengping Wen, Hui Zheng
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease with nearly 1.6 billion patients worldwide and an incidence of 0.5–1%. In recent years, basic and clinical studies have revealed that immune cell responses and corresponding secretion of inflammatory factors are important in the control of RA development. Our study found that a natural plant ingredient, menthone, could be used as a potential antirheumatism compound. In vivo observations demonstrated that menthone alleviates collagen II-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. Furthermore, we found that menthone regulates the number of Th1 and Th17 cells in CIA mice. Importantly, menthone significantly inhibits the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, in CIA mice. Our study suggests a potential component for the development of drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis.