Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an incurable debilitating disease which attacks the joints and impairs quality of life. Antrocaryon micraster is used to treat RA in African traditional medicine. However, its antiarthritic activity has not been pharmacologically studied. This study, therefore, reports the antiarthritic and antioxidant activities of A. micraster seed extract and its fractions. The seed extract (ASE) was produced by Soxhlet extraction and partitioned into petroleum ether (ASEP), ethyl acetate (ASEE), and aqueous (ASEA) fractions. The total polyphenolic content, DPPH antioxidant activity, and in vitro arthritic activity using the protein denaturation assay were evaluated for ASE and its fractions. The arthritic activity of the crude extract (ASE) and its most effective fraction (ASEA), in the in vitro assay, were then evaluated against CFA-induced arthritis in rats. The polyphenolic constituent of ASE was estimated to be  mg/100 mg of GAE. ASEA contained the highest quantity of polyphenolic constituents ( mg/100 mg of GAE) among the fractions of the extract. ASE and ASEA produced profound antioxidant activity ( and , respectively) which were similar to that of ascorbic acid () in the DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Furthermore, in vitro antiarthritic activity of ASEA was 13.63 and 5.75 times higher than the antiarthritic activity of the crude extract and diclofenac sodium, respectively. In the CFA-induced arthritis assay, both ASE and ASEA significantly () inhibited cachexia, paw edema, infiltration of inflammatory cells, pannus formation, and synovium damage. These results indicate that A. micraster seed extract and its fractions possessed significant antiarthritic activity via inhibition of oxidative stress, inflammation, protein denaturation, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and synovium injury due to its constituents such as polyphenols and phytosterols.

中文翻译：

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Antrocaryon micraster 种子提取物及其馏分的抗关节炎和抗氧化活性

类风湿性关节炎 (RA) 是一种无法治愈的衰弱性疾病，会攻击关节并损害生活质量。Antrocaryon micraster在非洲传统医学中用于治疗 RA。然而，其抗关节炎活性尚未经过药理学研究。因此，本研究报告了米克拉斯特种子提取物及其组分的抗关节炎和抗氧化活性。种子提取物 (ASE) 通过索氏提取产生，并分配为石油醚 (ASEP)、乙酸乙酯 (ASEE) 和水性 (ASEA) 部分。使用蛋白质变性测定法评估 ASE 及其组分的总多酚含量、DPPH 抗氧化活性和体外关节炎活性。然后在体外测定中评估粗提物 (ASE) 及其最有效部分 (ASEA) 的关节炎活性，以对抗 CFA 诱导的大鼠关节炎。ASE 的多酚成分估计为 毫克/100 毫克 GAE。ASEA 含有最高量的多酚成分（ mg/100 mg GAE）在提取物的级分中。ASE 和 ASEA 产生了深远的抗氧化活性（和分别） ，与抗坏血酸（）在 DPPH 自由基清除测定中。此外，ASEA的体外抗关节炎活性分别比粗提物和双氯​​芬酸钠的抗关节炎活性高13.63和5.75倍。在 CFA 诱导的关节炎测定中，ASE 和 ASEA 均显着（)抑制恶病质、爪水肿、炎症细胞浸润、血管翳形成和滑膜损伤。这些结果表明， A. micraster种子提取物及其组分通过抑制氧化应激、炎症、蛋白质变性、炎症细胞浸润和滑膜损伤（由于其多酚和植物甾醇等成分）而具有显着的抗关节炎活性。