<p>This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</p> <p>The effects of probiotic bacteria <italic>Enterococcus faecium</italic> (EF)
            and selenium were studied on methotrexate (MTX) treatment in rats with adjuvant
            arthritis (AA).</p> <p>Arthritic rats were preventive treated orally with the following substances:
            lyophilized EF (15 mg/kg/day, 5 days a week); sodium selenite pentahydrate
            (SSe, 0.050 mg/kg containing 0.015 mg/kg selenium, 5 days a week); MTX (0.6
            mg/kg/week), and their combinations for the period of 50 days from adjuvant
            application. Levels of serum albumin, serum nitrite/nitrate concentrations, hind
            paw swelling, arthrogram scores, whole body bone mineral density (BMD), and
            bone erosions were evaluated
            as markers of inflammation and destructive changes associated with arthritis.</p> <p>Long-term preventive treatment with low-dose MTX significantly inhibited
            the markers of both inflammation and arthritis. EF or SSe when administered
            singly or in combination had no significant effect on given parameters in arthritic
            rats. EF but not SSe potentiated the beneficial effects of MTX, which resulted in
            a more significant reduction of hind paw swelling, arthrogram scores and whole
            body BMD decrease. EF had a tendency to improve also the effect of MTX on
            serum albumin and nitrite/nitrate concentrations.</p> <p>Our results indicate that EF may increase the preventive effect of MTX
            treatment in
            rat AA by improving its anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effects.</p>
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Clin Dev Immunol. 2004 Sep-Dec; 11(3-4):267-273