Quercetin suppresses inflammatory cytokine production in rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast‑like synoviocytes

• Published in: Experimental and therapeutic medicine Vol. 22; no. 5
• Main Authors: Sun, Hai-Tao, Li, Jian-Peng, Qian, Wei-Qing, Yin, Meng-Fan, Yin, Hong, Huang, Gui-Cheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Athens Spandidos Publications 01.11.2021; Spandidos Publications UK Ltd; D.A. Spandidos
• Subjects: Binding sites; Bioinformatics; Biotechnology; Care and treatment; Cartilage; Cytokines; Development and progression; Experiments; Fibroblasts; Health aspects; Membranes; MicroRNAs; Physiological aspects; Proteins; Quercetin; Reagents; Rheumatoid arthritis; Synovial membranes; China
• ISSN: 1792-0981; 1792-1015
• DOI: 10.3892/etm.2021.10695

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive and systemic autoimmune disease mainly characterized by symmetric multijoint synovitis. Quercetin has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation and immune regulation activities, and therefore shows high medicinal value. The present study aimed to observe the effect of quercetin on fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) in RA. Rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RAFLSs) were pretreated with 50 nmol/l quercetin for 2 h and were then stimulated using TNF-[alpha] for 24 h for subsequent experiments. RAFLSs were transfected with short interfering (si)-X-inactive specific transcript (XIST), microRNA (miR)-485 mimic, miR-485 inhibitor or si-PSMB8 or combination. ELISA, PCR and western blotting was used to evaluate the effect of quercetin on RAFLSs treated with TNF-[alpha]. It was revealed that quercetin inhibited the production of inflammatory cytokines and the expression of XIST in RAFLSs induced by TNF-[alpha]. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that XIST acted as a sponge for miR-485 and that proteasome subunit p type-8 (PSMB8) was a direct target of miR-485. Moreover, PSMB8 functioned as a suppressor in inflammatory cytokine production of RAFLSs induced by TNF-[alpha]. Overall, quercetin was observed to inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines and the expression of XIST in RAFLSs induced by TNF-[alpha]. Moreover, XIST-silencing could suppress the inflammatory reaction by sponging miR-485 in cells treated with TNF-[alpha]. Altogether, quercetin could suppress the development of RA in vitro. Key words: rheumatoid arthritis, quercetin, X-inactive specific transcript, microRNA-485, proteasome subunit [beta] type-8