Synthesis and biological evaluation of gold nanoparticles drug delivery system for anti-rheumatoid arthritis agents

The gold nanoparticle-cysteine-methotrexate (GNPs-Cys-MTX) drug delivery system was developed for the passive targeted therapy of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to enhance drug delivery efficiency while minimizing toxicity and side effects. The preparation and characterization of the GNPs-Cys-MTX drug delivery system were successfully achieved using Cys as a coupling agent. An IL-1(3-induced anti-inflammatory study of rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast synoviocytes (RA-FLSs) demonstrated that GNPs-Cys-MTX exhibited dose-dependent antiinflammatory effects and effectively inhibited the expression of TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-17. Furthermore, studies involving collagen-induced arthritis rats revealed that GNPs-Cys-MTX demonstrated superior therapeutic efficacy compared to free MTX, even at the same drug dose. In summary, this study demonstrates that the GNPs-Cys-MTX drug delivery system can enhance drug efficacy while reducing toxicity and side effects in the treatment of RA.