Diallyl trisulfide alleviates inflammatory activities and induces apoptosis in rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes

Background: Diallyl Trisulfide (DATS), an organosulfur compound, is distilled from garlic bulb, possessing cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer activity. But their effect on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis-related cells is unknown. The present study was designed to explore the effects of DATS and the underlying mechanism on RA pathogenesis-related cells. Methods and Findings: In this study, Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes (FLS) from RA patients were cultured and were treated by DATS in different concentrations. The cell proliferation was detected by the Cell Count Kit-8 (CCK8) assay, while the cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. Quantitative realtime PCR (RT-qPCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to examine the levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8. Furthermore, the expression of proteins relative with NF-κB and Wnt pathway was detected by Western blot analysis. Results: The results showed that DATS induced apoptosis and decreased cell viability in RA-FLS. DATS significantly attenuated the main inflammatory cytokines and chemokine-induced by tumor necrosis α(TNF-α) in RA-FLS. DATS inhibited the activation of NF-kB pathway when the concentration was above 100 μM, while blocked Wnt pathway in dose-dependent manner in RA-FLS. Conclusions: In conclusion, DATS may serve as a potential curative agent of RA.