Rheumatoid arthritis is an
autoimmune disease characterized by the
synovitis of joints and the modulation of chronic
inflammation determined by increased levels of inflammatory
cytokines. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the immunological profile of the cells of the synovial membrane and the expression of
IL-10 and
IL-17 in a
rheumatoid arthritis rat model in order to provide a targetdirected treatment for immunological control. Eighty female Wistar rats were randomly divided into a
rheumatic arthritis model group (model group) and a control group, 40 animals per group. After the successful
rheumatoid arthritis rat model was obtained, 10 animals were sacrificed from each group every week starting from the third week till the sixth week and the expression levels of CD3, CD21, and CD68 in the synovial region along with the blood level of
IL-10 and
IL-17 were assessed. At the four stages after modeling, the expression of CD3 in the model group increased compared with the control group (P less than 0.05). The expression of CD21 was different between the model group and the control group, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P>0.05). The expression of CD68 determined at weeks 4 and 5 after modeling was increased compared to the control group (P less than 0.05). At 6 week after modeling,
IL-10 levels in the model group were higher than those in the control group (P less than 0.05). At weeks 4 and 5 after modeling, the level of
IL-17 in the model group increased compared to the control group (P less than 0.05). The level of
IL-17 increased with the increase of synovial
inflammation in the
rheumatoid arthritis-induced rats, and the level of
IL-10 increased as the
inflammation subsided, which shows that both
cytokines are related to the occurrence and development of
rheumatoid arthritis and its
inflammation.