Effect of Joint Cavity Injection of Dioscoreae Rhizoma Polysaccharides on Inflammatory Factors and Articular Cartilage Metabolism in Rabbit Knee Osteoarthritis / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the mechanism of joint cavity injection of Dioscoreae Rhizoma polysaccharides （DRP） in protecting against cartilage degeneration and inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors in the rabbit model of knee osteoarthritis to provide relevant references for the development and further research on DRP. Method:Fifty-five New Zealand white rabbits were selected for the induction of knee osteoarthritis model by the modified Hulth's modeling method. The model rabbits were randomly divided into a model group， a sodium hyaluronate group （1.00 mg·kg^-1）， and low- （0.7 mg·kg^-1）， medium- （1.43 mg·kg^-1）， and high-dose （2.15 mg·kg^-1） DRP group according to a random number table. One week after modeling， the rabbits in the groups with drug intervention were treated correspondingly for five weeks， once per week， and no intervention was performed in the model group. Five weeks later， the joint specimens were observed by visual observation. The articular cartilage tissues were observed under the light microscope for pathological sections and scores by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining and toluidine blue （TB） staining. The expression levels of interleukin-6 （IL-6）， interleukin-1<italic>β</italic> （IL-1<italic>β</italic>）， and tumor necrosis factor-<italic>α </italic>（TNF-<italic>α</italic>） in the synovial fluid were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）， and the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-13 （MMP-13）， transforming growth factor-<italic>β</italic>₁ （TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁）， and type Ⅱ collagen （Col-Ⅱ） in the articular cartilage were measured by immunohistochemistry. Result:After five weeks of DRP intervention， compared with the model group， the DRP groups exhibited lowered levels of IL-6， IL-1<italic>β</italic>， and TNF-<italic>α</italic> in the synovial fluid （<italic>P</italic><0.05）， reduced expression of MMP-13 in the articular cartilage （<italic>P</italic><0.05）， and increased levels of TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁and Col-Ⅱ （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. Compared with the low-dose and high-dose DRP groups， the medium-dose DRP group showed reduced levels of IL-6， IL-1<italic>β</italic>， and TNF-<italic>α</italic> in the knee joint （<italic>P</italic><0.05）， increased levels of TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁ and Col-Ⅱ in cartilage tissues （<italic>P</italic><0.05）， and dwindled level of MMP-13 （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. Compared with the sodium hyaluronate group， the medium-dose DRP group showed no significant differences in IL-6， IL-1<italic>β</italic>， and TNF-<italic>α</italic> in rabbit knee joints， and TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁， Col-Ⅱ， and MMP-13 in cartilage tissues. Conclusion:Joint cavity injection of DRP can significantly reduce the expression of IL-6， IL-1<italic>β</italic>， and TNF-<italic>α</italic> in rabbit synovial fluid， effectively inhibit the expression of MMP-13 in the articular cartilage to suppress the degradation of articular cartilage collagen and promote the synthesis of TGF-<italic>β</italic>₁ and Col-Ⅱ. Therefore， DRP can protect and repair articular cartilage to delay the degeneration of articular cartilage.