Livedo vasculopathy (LV) is a chronic cutaneous disorder characterised by recurrent, painful ulceration ending in stellate scars. We have conducted a retrospective study of clinical features and treatment response of LV in 24 Chinese patients. LV occurred more frequently in women (male:female ratio  1:3). The peak age at onset of disease ranged from 14 to 20 years, younger than previously publi...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common chronic autoimmune and incurable disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the therapeutic effect and mechanism of the total saponins of Rhizoma Dioscorea nipponica (TSRDN) in RA. A collagen induced-arthritis (CIA) rat model was established. CIA rats were randomly divided into three groups and lavaged with an equal volume of solvent (CIA grou...

OBJECTIVE Triptolide, the active component of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F has been used to treat autoimmune and inflammatory conditions for over two hundred years in traditional Chinese medicine. However, the processes through which triptolide exerts immunosuppression and anti-inflammation are not understood well. In this review, we discuss the autoimmune disorders and inflammatory conditions...

BACKGROUND Prostatitis is a common and refractory urological disease with complicated etiology. Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) has a close relationship with human urinary tract infection that can induce nonbacterial prostatitis. Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside (TWP) is a non-steroidal immune inhibitor that causes significant immune suppression and anti-inflammatory effects. Its role in prosta...

As a Chinese traditional patent medicine, Tripterygium wilfordii glycosides (TWG) have been approved by the China State Food and Drug Administration (Z32021007) for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Application of TWG leads to significant decrease of the inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α. However, little is known whether TWG could regulate the anti-inflammatory cytokine...

Spontaneous or therapeutic induction of T cell apoptosis plays a critical role in establishing transplantation tolerance and maintaining remission of autoimmune diseases. We investigated the mechanisms of apoptosis induced by Chinese and Western antirheumatic drugs (ARDs) in human T cells. We found that hydroxychloroquine, Tripterygium wilfordii hook F, and tetrandrine (Tet), but not methotrexa...

Eleven new abietane type (1‒11), and one new kaurane (12), diterpenes, together with eleven known compounds (13-23), were isolated and identified from the stems of Tripterygium regelii, which has been used as a traditional folk Chinese medicine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in China. The structures of new compounds were characterized by means of the interpretation of high-resolution...

Tripterygium wilfordii Hook.f. (TWHF) is a traditional Chinese herb long used for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment, in modern times, often in the form of various Tripterygium wilfordii Hook.f. preparations (TWPs). This systematic review and meta-analysis focuses on analyzing the clinical efficacy and safety of TWPs in the treatment of RA. Databases were searched to collect the randomized con...

Premature ovarian failure (POF) is a typical pathological disease of the reproductive system in aging females. Infection, inflammation, immune abnormalities, genetic mutation, radiotherapy and chemotherapy can cause POF. Tripterygium glycosides (TGs) are a component extracted from the Chinese herb Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f., also known as Huangteng. Although TGs have been used to treat var...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) and irbesartan could synergistically affect the urinary excretion of podocytes and proteins in type 2 diabetic kidney disease (DKD) patients and the underlying mechanisms. Forty DKD patients were divided into a DI group (DKD patients treated with irbesartan alone) and a DTI group (DKD patients treated with Tri...