Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common health problem with a serious impact on quality of life. Hence, variable therapeutic regimens have been tested to ameliorate the symptoms and hinder the disease progression.
Aim of the Work: To assess the therapeutic effect of ginger (GR) or glucosamine sulfate (GAS) separately versus their combined administration in a rat model of induced-RA.
Materials and Methods: Sixty adult female albino rats were allocated into five groups; 20 rats were the control group I. RA was induced by a single intra-articular injection of 100 μL of Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) in the knee joints of the remaining forty rats, then distributed after 7 days into: RA group II, GR group III (received 400 mg GR/kg/day), GAS group IV (received 250 mg GAS/kg/day), and combined treatment group V. Treatment groups were euthanized after 28 days. Assessment of serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) was done. Right knee joints were dissected for gross macroscopic and scanning electron microscope (SEM) examinations. Left knee joints were processed for a histological examination by hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) and Masson's trichrome stains.
Results: In group V, serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 restored nearly their control values. Gross and SEM examinations revealed mostly regular articular cartilage surfaces. Histologically, mostly smooth cartilage surfaces were observed with preserved joint space and distinct cartilage zones, in comparison to GR and GAS treated groups that exhibited limited surface irregularities and invasion of the joint space by pannus tissue, in some sections. Trichrome stained sections demonstrated a significant decline in percentage area of collagen within the pannus in group V as compared to RA group.
Conclusion: The combined treatment enhanced the therapeutic effect of GR and GAS, thus resulted in the most prominent improvement in all assessed parameters.