AVIAN PATHOLOGY, cilt.34, sa.2, ss.143-149, 2005 (SCI-Expanded)
The effects of vitamin A, pentoxyfylline and methylprednisolone on experimentally induced amyloid arthropathy were investigated. In this study, 175 1-day-old brown layer chicks were used. Throughout the study Group II ( vitamin A) received high doses of vitamin A ( 75 000 IU/kg), whereas Group I ( negative control), Group III ( positive control), Group IV ( pentoxyfylline) and Group V ( methylprednisolone) received normal levels of vitamin A in the diet. At the fifth week, the experimental Groups II, III, IV and V were injected with Freund's adjuvant intra-articularly to induce amyloid arthropathy. Group IV received pentoxyfylline and Group V received methylprednisolone ( 10 mg/kg, intramuscularly) once. Joint and blood samples were examined 13 weeks after the injections. The values in Groups I, II, III, IV and V, respectively, were as follows: amyloid arthropathy formation (%), 0, 100, 87, 76, 66; serum amyloid A (ng/ml), 1669/17, 607 +/- 40, 423 +/- 39, 342 +/- 27, 293 +/- 22; serum retinol (mu g/dl): 59.75 +/- 3.8, 42.72 +/- 3, 59.24 +/- 3.6, 102 +/- 9.1, 101.3 +/- 12.3; heterophil/lymphocyte ratio: 0.504, 0.75, 0.75, 0.087, 0.44. In conclusion, it was observed that vitamin A enhanced the development of amyloid arthropathy and there were positive associations between amyloidosis, increased levels of serum amyloid A and increased numbers of tissue infiltrating macrophages. Methylprednisolone had a more successful inhibitory effect on amyloid arthropathy than pentoxyfylline.