Abstract
Oral gold compound, auranofin (AF), is clinically useful for the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as one of the disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, although its mechanism of action is not determined yet. In the present study, the effects of auranofin on the production of IgG rheumatoid factor (IgGRF), IgMRF, IL-1β and TNF-α by mononuclear cells (MNC) .
MNC were isolated from 6 RA patients. MNC of each patients were cultured with or without AF for 24 hrs and the supernatants obtained by centrifuga-tion were measured for IL-1β and TNF-α by ELISA kit. The supernatants obtained after 7 day' culture were measured for IgGRF and IgMRF by ELISA.
AF significantly inhibited IgGRF, IgMRF and IL-1β production at its final concentration of 0.375 and 0.75 μg/ml. TNF-α production was also significantly inhibited by physiological concentration of AF. The inhibition by AF of IgGRF, IgMRF, IL-1β and TNF-α production by RA MNC may be one of the mechanisms by which AF shows clinical efficacy.
