ABSTRACT
Earlier work suggested that Ginseng saponin had an effect on osteoblast and other cells, but there has been no report on saponin effects on chondrocyte. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of saponin on cultured human chondrocyte. The chondrocyte was isolated from human articular cartilage of knee joint during notchplasty of ACL reconstructive procedure using collagenase, and cultured in standard medium and serum free deficient medium, with addition of saponin(0(control), 10, 20, 50 microgram/ml concentration). DNA, RNA synthesis of chondrocyte was estimated on 36 hours and 5 days of culture by measuring of thymidine and uridine uptake. Human collagen type I and II synthesis was estimated by reverse transcriptation-polymerase chain reaction on 36 hours of culture. Low dose saponin was found to enhance DNA, RNA, and collagen synthesis of chondrocytes which were cultured with a deficient medium in comparison to the controls. It promoted cell proliferation of the osteoblasts cultured with a deficient medium in comparison to the controls. But, high dose saponin was found to diminish the synthesis of DNA, RNA and collagen. In summary, the results showed that the saponin increased proliferation and differentiation of the chondrocyte cultured in deficient medium. Therefore saponin seemed to act as a physiologic stimulant on human chondrocyte. But further study should be done.