A Candidate SPORTS Nutrition Supplement, Lonicerae Flos, Attenuates Collagen-Induced Arthritis in Mice

Rheumatoid arthritis(RA) can occur in persons of all ages and of both sexes. Diverse studies recommend exercise to help diminish pain from RA symptoms. Although exercise for patients with RA is an effective therapy to improve functional impairment, patients experience reluctance to exercise because of pain. Several studies have focused on investigating the treatments for this disease. However, RA is currently an incurable disease because its pathogenic cause is still unclear. In view of the complex considerations, the treatment of RA with exercise requires more effective research for developing therapies with proven stability. For example, natural compounds are potential therapeutic agents and candidates as sports nutrition supplements. In the present study, we aimed to find a candidate sport nutrition supplement from natural compounds such as foods and tea. Lonicerae flos(LF) has been widely used in Korean traditional medicine and as a tea material. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of LF extract on an RA model. First, we found that the mRNA expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor(MIF), cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2), and matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9) in synoviocytes stimulated with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate was decreased by LF treatment(0.4–1.0 mg/mL). Furthermore, the distribution of MIF-, COX-2-, and MMP-9-positive cells in mice with collagen-induced arthritis treated with LF(45 mg/kg) was remarkably decreased. These data likely indicate that LF may act as an anti-inflammatory agent and may be a potential compound for the development of useful agents for RA treatment.