Context: Chloranthus serratus [(Thunb.) Roem. et Schult, (Chloranthaceae)] is a folk medicine used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate anti-arthritic effects of the ethanol extracts of the roots (ER), stems (ES) and leaves (EL) of C. serratus on adjuvant arthritis rats and related mechanisms.Materials and methods: The rats were immunized by intradermal injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA, 0.18 mL) into the right hind feet, and received intragastric administrations of the ER, ES and EL (2.07, 1.61 and 0.58 g/kg/d, respectively) for 14 days. The anti-arthritic activity was assessed by swelling rates, serum indicators, antioxidant capacity, histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses.Results: The LD50 of the ER, ES and EL was higher than 10.35, 8.05 and 2.90 g/kg/p.o., respectively. Extract treatments decreased swelling rates, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), migration inhibitory factor 1 (MIF-1), immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels and positive expression of VEGF in the arthritic rats (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05). The ER significantly decreased NO (3.91 ± 0.61 µmol/L), IL-6 (75.67 ± 16.83 pg/mL) and malondialdehyde (MDA) (2.28 ± 0.32 nmol/mL) contents and clearly increased IFN-γ (2082 ± 220.93 pg/mL) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) (601.98 ± 38.40 U/mL) levels. The ES and EL did not reverse the changes in some indicators. All the extracts alleviated inflammatory cell infiltration and synovial cell proliferation. Among them, the ER was the most pronounced.Discussion and conclusions: ER exerts the most promising effects, as shown by inhibiting the releases of inflammatory cytokines and enhancing antioxidant capacity, which provides a scientific basis for further research on C. serratus and its clinical applications.

中文翻译：

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黄花叶根茎叶提取物对佐剂性大鼠关节炎的抗炎作用

背景：Chloranthus serratus [(Thunb.) Roem。et Schult, (Chloranthaceae)] 是一种用于治疗类风湿性关节炎的民间药物。目的：本研究的目的是研究根 (ER)、茎 (ES) 和叶的乙醇提取物的抗关节炎作用C. serratus 对佐剂性关节炎大鼠及其相关机制的影响。 ES 和 EL（分别为 2.07、1.61 和 0.58 g/kg/d），持续 14 天。通过肿胀率、血清指标、抗氧化能力、组织病理学和免疫组化分析评估抗关节炎活性。 结果：ER、ES和EL的LD50分别高于10.35、8.05和2.90 g/kg/po，分别。提取物治疗降低了肿胀率、肿瘤坏死因子-α (TNF-α)、血管内皮生长因子 (VEGF)、白细胞介素 1β (IL-1β)、迁移抑制因子 1 (MIF-1)、免疫球蛋白 G (IgG) 和关节炎大鼠中免疫球蛋白 M (IgM) 水平和 VEGF 的阳性表达（p < 0.01 或 p < 0.05）。ER 显着降低 NO (3.91 ± 0.61 µmol/L)、IL-6 (75.67 ± 16.83 pg/mL) 和丙二醛 (MDA) (2.28 ± 0.32 nmol/mL) 含量，并明显增加 IFN-γ (2082 ± 220.93 pg) /mL) 和超氧化物歧化酶 (SOD) (601.98 ± 38.40 U/mL) 水平。ES 和 EL 没有扭转某些指标的变化。所有提取物均减轻炎症细胞浸润和滑膜细胞增殖。其中以ER最为显着。 讨论与结论：