Context Fibrates were reported to have anti-inflammatory effects while the naturally occurring polyphenol resveratrol was traditionally known as a potent antioxidant agent.

Objective The effects of fenofibrate and resveratrol were investigated on complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA)-induced rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in adult female albino rats.

Materials and methods Rats were divided into a normal control group, an arthritis control group receiving CFA, two reference treatment groups receiving dexamesathone (1.5 mg/kg/day) and methotrexate (1 mg/kg/day), and two treatment groups receiving fenofibrate (100 mg/kg/day) and resveratrol (10 mg/kg/day) for seven consecutive days. Assessment of RA was performed by measuring serum rheumatoid factor (RF), matrix metalloprotinease-3 (MMP-3) and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) as specific rheumatoid biomarkers, immunoglobulin G (IgG) and antinuclear antibody (ANA) as immunological biomarkers, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) as immunomodulatory cytokines, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and C-reactive protein (CRP) as inflammatory biomarkers and malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) as oxidative stress biomarkers, supported by a histopathological study on joints and spleens.

Results Serum RF, MMP-3, COMP, IgG, ANA, TNF-α, MPO, CRP and MDA were decreased to about 36, 56, 66, 65, 9, 35, 24, 44 and 31% by fenofibrate, and to about 37, 59, 44, 70, 5, 30, 23, 33 and 28% by resveratrol treatments, respectively. Alternatively, serum IL-10 and GSH were significantly increased to about 215 and 251% by fenofibrate and to about 225 and 273% by resveratrol treatments, respectively.

Discussion and conclusion Fenofibrate and resveratrol protect against RA, possibly through their immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential.