Figure 1.

Daily gavage with shikonin decreases arthritic score and inhibits parameters of disease progression in an antibody-induced model of rheumatoid arthritis. Female Balb/c mice were treated as described in Materials and Methods to construct CAIA model and then orally administered shikonin treatment at 0, 0.1, 0.5, or 1.0 mg/kg for 10 consecutive days. Arthritic score of mice was assessed on study days 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. Maximum arthritic score is 16 for each mouse (a). Blinded samples were used to count osteoclast number using acid phosphatase/toluidine blue stained slides and the articular area and surface were performed using Safranin O stained slides. Ostemeasure software, Nikon Eclipse E400 light/epiflourescent microscope, and video system were applied in histomorphometric measurements (b). Each value was expressed as mean ± SD. ^∗ P < 0.05, ^∗∗ P < 0.01 versus control.