Investigation of gene expression profiles in a rat adjuvant arthritis model

In order to study the molecular biological mechanism underlying the inhibition of RA synovial pannus by triptolide, differentially expressed genes in synovial tissues from an adjuvant arthritis (AA) rat model with and without triptolide treatment were detected and verified by gene transcripts produced by Agilent Technologies. An AA model was established by injecting 0.1 ml Freund's complete adjuvant (i.p.) daily for 18 days and scored by arthritis index assessment. Triptolide (0.4 mg/kg) or an equivalent amount of saline was administered daily for 14 days. Subsequently, synovial tissues from the ankle joints of the rats' hind legs were obtained. Total RNA was extracted and purified, and microarray hybridization was used to investigate the effect of triptolide on the gene expression profile in RA.