Zhuangguguanjie formulation protects articular cartilage from degeneration in joint instability-induced murine knee osteoarthritis.

Zhuangguguanjie formulation protects articular cartilage from degeneration in joint instability-induced murine knee osteoarthritis. Am J Transl Res. 2018;10(2):411-421 Authors: Lu K, Shi T, Li L, Zhang K, Zhu X, Shen S, Yu F, Teng H, Gao X, Ju H, Wang W, Jiang Q Abstract Zhuangguguanjie formulation (ZG) can provide noticeable relief from joint pain in patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, the underlying mechanism has not been fully described. Male C57BL/6 mice were administered either ZG or normal saline (NS) following surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM). At weeks 4, 6 and 8 (post-surgery), knee joints were harvested and assessed with Safranin-O staining. Blood serum was collected and tested. In vitro analysis was carried out to evaluate the effects of ZG on the expression of the OA-related genes. DMM mice indicated reduced cartilage destruction and lower blood serum biomarkers of OA (COMP1 and CTX-1) following ZG treatment. Moreover, the femoral condyle and tibial plateau histological scores were significantly reduced following ZG treatment of the DMM mice. ZG could markedly downregulate the expression of OA-related genes namely, ADAMTS5, MMP3 and MMP13, while it simultaneously upregulated collagen II as demonstrated by in vitro assays. Moreover, chondrocyte apoptosis was significantly decreased following ZG treatment. These results may be caused by the up-regulation of p-AKT expression levels,...
Source: American Journal of Translational Research - Category: Research Tags: Am J Transl Res Source Type: research