| abstract |
The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for treating rheumatoid arthritis containing melittin, which is an active ingredient of bee venom that can inhibit the activity of fibroblast-like synovial cells, which plays an important role in rheumatoid arthritis. Treatment with human fibroblast-like synovial cells activated with the cytokine IL-6 / sIL-6R reduced the p65 and STAT3 activities of the transcription factors NF-κB during apoptosis with mitochondria. In addition, the expression of apoptosis inhibitors bcl-2 and mitochondrial cytochrome c were inhibited, and the expression of caspase-3, Apaf-1 and cytoplasmic cytochrome c were increased. As a result, melittin has an effect of inducing cell death mechanisms associated with mitochondria in inhibiting activation of activated human fibroblast-like synovial cells. |