Figure 3
Effect of A 2A and A 3 AR stimulation in NF-kB, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, MMP-1 and MMP-3. Effect of a well-known A2AAR agonist and antagonist (CGS 21680, 100 nM; SCH 442416, 1 μM) or A3AR agonist and antagonist (Cl-IB-MECA, 100 nM; MRS 1334, 1 μM) in cultured lymphocytes of ERA (n = 30), RA patients (n = 30) and healthy subjects (n = 30) on: NF-kB activation (A) which was evaluated by detecting phosphorylated p65 proteins in nuclear extracts. The effect of the same compounds was also established in TNF-α release in control conditions and stimulated by PMA 5 ng/ml (B) and in IL-1β (C) and IL-6 levels (D). The effect of the same compounds in monocytes from ERA, RA patients and healthy subjects in MMP-1 (E) and MMP-3 (F) activation was investigated. Functional experiments were carried out as described in the online supplementary material. Values are the mean and SEM. *, P < 0.01 versus controls (A); *, P < 0.01 versus PMA-treated cells (B-F).