Table 2.

Serum levels of TNF-α and IL-18

Group (n = 8)	TNF-α (pg/ml)		IL-18 (pg/ml) week 6
	week 2	week 6
Healthy	22.71 ± 1.79	23.87 ± 5.11	30.28 ± 1.76
Arthritic	43.15 ± 1.57****	39.80 ± 4.38****	38.03 ± 3.35**
BQ-high dose	43.35 ± 1.84****	34.04 ± 5.22**	33.69 ± 4.36
BQ-moderate dose	42.68 ± 2.30****	31.87 ± 2.88*, ∆	32.37 ± 4.20∆
MTX	43.28 ± 2.29****	33.84 ± 4.39**	32.32 ± 3.61∆

Data are presented as mean ± SD

BQ Bi-Qi capsule, MTX methotrexate

Significant effect of treatment compared to control, **P < 0.01, ****P < 0.0001; compared to arthritic group, ^∆P < 0.05