Early Release of Growth Factor and Cytokines Ellicited by Zymosan in Rat Tibio - Tarsal Joints - Lessons for the Arthritis Therapy

Early release of inflammation mediators was investigated in the rat tíbio-tarsal arthritis induced by zymosan. At 6h, proinflammatory cytokines were the mostly released in the supernatant of joint cavities (IL-1β: 45.3; IL-6: 23.3; TNF-α: 4.0; IL-5 (2.9 fold) vs. controls, followed by the chemokines GRO/KC (CXCL1 4.8 fold) and MCP-1 (CXCL2 2.9 fold), and growth factors related to angiogenesis or leukocyte maturation (VEGF: 17.1; GM-CSF: 7.5; M-CSF: 4 fold). The release of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-13: 6.7; IL-4: 4.4 fold) suggests compensatory mechanism. Concluding, zymosan evokes multiple expression of acute phase mediators, being the blockage of such targets, particularly VEGF, an interesting therapeutic strategy. Keywords: Inflammation. Rheumatoid. Mediators. Immunoassay