Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a slowly progressing inflammatory autoimmune disease. Several features are involved in the RA pathogenesis in addition to environmental and genetic factors. Previously it has been reported that acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) activity is enhanced in old age and may contribute in the progression of RA. The current experimental work was projected to assess the activity of physostigmine (a cholinesterase inhibitor) for treatment of RA. In vitro and in vivo approaches were used for such evaluation. However, enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) was performed to determine the concentrations of Prostaglandins E2 (PGE2) and tumor necrosis factor-α in arthritic rats after treatment with physostigmine. Moreover, anti-oxidant assays were employed to calculate the level of super oxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase peroxidase (CAT) in tissue of treated animals. The results claimed the dose dependent protective and stabilizing effect of physostigmine on denaturation of albumin (egg and bovine serum) protein and human red blood cell membrane, respectively, through in vitro studies. Furthermore, the physostigmine (10 and 20 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.001) reduced the swelling of paw after induction of arthritis with formaldehyde or complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) as compared to arthritic control animals. Moreover, significant (p < 0.001) reduction in the levels of inflammatory markers (PGE2 and TNF-α) at doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg of physostigmine has been observed in ELISA test. Likewise, there was a prominent rise in levels of SOD and CAT in animals treated with physostigmine. These findings pharmacologically conclude the anti-arthritic effect of physostigmine.

类风湿性关节炎 (RA) 是一种进展缓慢的炎症性自身免疫性疾病。除了环境和遗传因素外，RA 发病机制还涉及几个特征。此前有报道称，乙酰胆碱酯酶 (AChE) 活性在老年期增强，可能促进 RA 的进展。目前的实验工作旨在评估毒扁豆碱（一种胆碱酯酶抑制剂）治疗 RA 的活性。体外和体内方法用于此类评估。然而，酶联免疫吸附试验 (ELISA) 被用于测定关节炎大鼠毒扁豆碱治疗后前列腺素 E2 (PGE2) 和肿瘤坏死因子-α 的浓度。而且，采用抗氧化剂测定来计算处理动物组织中超氧化物歧化酶 (SOD) 和过氧化氢酶过氧化物酶 (CAT) 的水平。通过体外研究，结果表明毒扁豆碱分别对白蛋白（鸡蛋和牛血清）和人红细胞膜的变性具有剂量依赖性保护和稳定作用。此外，毒扁豆碱（10 和 20 mg/kg）显着（p  < 0.001) 与关节炎对照动物相比，用甲醛或完全弗氏佐剂 (CFA) 诱导关节炎后爪肿胀减少。此外， 在 ELISA 测试中观察到在剂量为 10 和 20 mg/kg 的毒扁豆碱时，炎症标志物（PGE2 和 TNF-α）水平显着降低 (p < 0.001) 。同样，用毒扁豆碱处理的动物的 SOD 和 CAT 水平显着升高。这些发现在药理学上总结了毒扁豆碱的抗关节炎作用。