TNF and arthritic joint disease: It can be proposed that inhibition of CFA induced arthritis and its associated alterations might be accredited to the presence of alkaloid berberine and berbamine in B.orthobotrys as berberine has been described to show significant improvement in synovial hyperplasia and inflammatory infiltration via inhibition of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, PGE2, COX-2, NF-kβ, repression of Th17, dendritic cell responses and other signaling pathways [11–13].