The effects of synthetic immunostimulator polyoxidonium on methotrexate treatment in rats with adjuvant arthritis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of polyoxidonium(POX) on prophylactic treatment of adjuvant arthritis (AA)with methotrexate (MTX) in rats. Groups of rats with AA weretreated with methotrexate (1 mg/kg/week), polyoxidonium(0.1 mg/kg) or their combination for a period of 28 days from adjuvantapplication. Body mass, hind paw swelling, arthrogramscores and a level of serum albumin were measured as markers ofinflammation and arthritis. Treatment with low doses ofmethotrexate significantly inhibited the markers of both inflammationand arthritis. Methotrexate and its combination with POXsignificantly increased body mass of arthritic rats. Polyoxidoniumadministered alone had no significant effect on the hind pawswelling and arthritic score. In combination with MTX, POXmarkedly potentiated the beneficial effects of MTX, which resultedin a more significant reduction of hind paw swelling andarthritic scores. The concentration of albumin in the serum ofarthritic controls was significantly lower than in healthy controls.Both MTX alone and the combination treatment with MTX + POXsignificantly inhibited the decrease in serum albumin. Polyoxidoniumincreased the treatment efficacy of basal treatment of AAwith MTX (Tables I–IV). In patients with rheumatoid arthritis thisimmunomodulator may prevent the secondary infections andrestore impaired immunological homeostasis