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. 2018 Jul 18;9:1662. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01662

Figure 6.

Figure 6

Apremilast treatment inhibited rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial fibroblast (RASFs) from migrating and destroying cartilage in the humanized animal model. Sponge-cartilage complex, containing cartilage with synovial fibroblasts from RA patients (RASFs), was implanted into the flank skin of a severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mouse (primary implant). We also inserted cartilage without RASFs under the skin of the contralateral flank (contralateral implant). After the humanized synovitis model was established, Apremilast (25 mg/kg, oral, once daily) was given to SCID mice for 10 continuous days. We removed the implants for evaluation after 60 days. Invasion scores are classified as the previous report. (A) Apremilast treatment can inhibit the ability of RASFs from migrating to and destroying cartilage. (B,C) Compared with the model group (n = 6), Apremilast treatment (n = 6) significantly reduced the invasion scores in both primary implant and contralateral implant. The data indicate the mean ± SEM from two independent experiments (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01). Data were analyzed using unpaired t-tests (Mann–Whitney).