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L. ZHOU¹, S. Nahashon, and Y. H. P. Hsieh. (1) Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Auburn University, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Auburn, AL 36849

It has been shown that oral administration of type II collagen (CII) ameliorates animal models of arthritis and human rheumatoid arthritis. This study investigated the protective effects of jellyfish collagen (JC), on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), and compared it with the effects of bovine type II collagen (BII). Forty rats were divided equally into 8 groups: collagen treated groups were fed daily with either 10 µg JC or 5 µg BII in 0.005 N acetic acid per rats for 6 days before (pre), after (post), and before and after immunization (pre & post), respectively. Each rat was immunized with 400 µg BII in complete Freund's adjuvant and boosted once with 200 µg BII in incomplete Freund's adjuvant 20 days later. The positive control group was fed with acetic acid daily for 6 days before and after immunization and the negative control group was treated the same way as the positive group but immunized without BII. All animals were observed daily for the development of arthritis. Joint scores, body weight, delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) and serum anti-BII antibody were measured. The average onset of arthritis in positive control group was 19 ± 5.79 days after immunization. All collagen treated groups, except post-BII, significantly delayed the onset of arthritis (P<0.05). The peak joint score was observed on day 44 after immunization in all groups. The positive group had higher total joint score (29.8) than treated groups (ranged from 15.4 to 24.2). There was no significant difference in body weight between treated groups and controls. Except for pre & post-JC group, all treated groups suppressed the DTH response significantly (P< 0.05). There was a decrease in the production of anti-BII antibody in rats fed JC before, and after immunization. Oral administration of JC may have preventive and therapeutic effects on autoimmune inflammatory disease.