Abstract:
Rheumatoid arthritis is a multifactorial, autoimmune, inflammatory disease affecting around 0.5 to 1% population of the world. Currently available therapies for this disease, although effective, still present a multitude of side effects and scientists are interested in exploring new treatment options that would overcome the existing obstacles. The aim of this study was to evaluate therapeutic potential of Foeniculum vulgare derived selenium nanoparticles in collagen induced arthritic female Balb/c mice. Selenium nanoparticles were synthesized using Foeniculum vulgare seed extract and were characterized using multiple techniques. To check their biosafety profile, a toxicity analysis was conducted on healthy mice. Lastly, selenium nanoparticles in 5mg/kg and 10mg/kg doses were administered orally to arthritic mice and multiple parameters were checked to determine their anti-arthritic activity. These included paw volume measurement, weight analysis, spleen indexing, clinical chemistry parameters assessment, histopathological analysis, DPPH assay and determination of catalase activity. Results revealed 10mg/kg selenium nanoparticles to be more effective dose since it caused significant reduction in paw volume, showed completely normal clinical chemistry parameters and histology results. It also exhibited significant antioxidant activity when compared to untreated arthritic control. This study thus indicates that biogenic selenium nanoparticles exhibit anti-arthritic effects in mice and consequently have potential for use in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in the future.
