Astilbin ameliorates experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis by decreased Th17 cytokines and up-regulated T regulatory cells

• Astilbin alleviated experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis.
• Astilbin inhibited lymphocyte proliferation and autoantibodies.
• Astilbin adjusted the balance between Treg and Th17 cells.
• The efficiency of the antigen presenting cells was depressed by astilbin.

Astilbin, a major bioactive compound extracted from Rhizoma smilacis glabrae (RSG), has been reported to possess immunosuppressive properties. Our study first evaluated the effect of astilbin on experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) in Lewis rats. The results showed that astilbin could attenuate the severity of EAMG by decreasing antigen-specific autoantibodies with up-regulation of regulatory T cells and down-regulation of Th17 cells. In addition to, astilbin also reduced the efficiency of the antigen presenting cells on which the expression of MHC class II decreased. These results suggest that astilbin might be a candidate drug for immunoregulation of EAMG, and provide us new treatment ideas for human myasthenia gravis (MG).

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