Abstract: To investigate the therapeutic effect of polydatin on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats and its possible mechanism.RA model was induced by injection of 0.1 mL complete Freund′s adjuvant intradermally in the right hind foot of the rat,and 160,80 and 40 mg / kg of the polydatin suspension were given orally,once daily and after modeling On the 28th day,arthritis scores and paw edema scores of RA rats were evaluated,and the pathological changes of ankle joints were observed.The levels of TNF-α,IL-1β in serum were observed.The expressions of Bax,caspase-3,Bcl-2,Wnt4,GSK-3β and β-catenin mRNA in synovial tissue and fibroblast synovial membrane (FLS) were measured by Real-time quantitative PCR.The expressions of Wnt4,GSK-3β,β-catenin protein in synovial tissue and FLS were measured by Western blotting.The results showed that polydatin significantly reduced arthritis scores and paw edema scores of RA rats,and improved the status of joint inflammation,decreased the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in serum and Wnt4,GSK-3β and β-catenin mRNA in FLS And protein and Bcl-2 mRNA expression,and increased FLS Bax,caspase3 mRNA expression.Polydatin can effectively inhibit synovial proliferation,promote synovial cell apoptosis and control the inflammatory state in RA rats.The mechanism may be related to the inhibition of the activation of Wnt /β-catenin signaling pathway.

Key words: arthritis, rheumatoid, rat, polydatin