Indole-3-pyruvic acid alleviates rheumatoid arthritis via the aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway

Abstract

Background In previous studies, we found that smoking may participate in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) via the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway. However, when we conducted a subgroup analysis, the expression of AhR and CYP1A1 in healthy people was higher than that in RA patients. We considered that endogenous AhR ligands may exist in vivo that activate AhR to play a protective role. Indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) is a tryptophan (Trp) metabolite produced by the indole pathway...