Zhuanggu Jianxi Decoction （壮骨健膝方） Limits Interleukin-1 β- Induced Degeneration Chondrocytes via the Caveolin-p38 MAPK Signal Pathway

• Published in: 中国结合医学杂志：英文版 no. 5; pp. 353 - 359
• Main Author: 闫虎 苏友新 林学义 陈宝军 张庆 张子怡 王艺茹 李亚楠 卢美丽 何浈 盛录 王雯婷
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: MAPK信号通路; mRNA表达水平; 促分裂原活化蛋白激酶; 变性; 小窝蛋白; 白细胞介素-1; 诱导; 软骨细胞
• ISSN: 1672-0415; 1993-0402

Objective： To evaluate the effect of Zhuanggu Jianxi Decoction （壮骨健膝方, ZGJXD） on interleukin- 1 β- （IL-1 β- ）-induced degeneration of chondrocytes （CDs） as well as the activation of caveolin-p38 mitogen- activated protein kinase （MAPK） signal pathway, investigating the possible molecular mechanism that ZGJXD treats osteoarthritis. Methods： Serum pharmacology was applied in the present study, where ZGJXD was orally administrated to New Zealand rabbits and then ZGJXD containing serum （ZGJXD-S） was collected for following in vitro experiments. CDs were isolated aseptically from New Zealand rabbits and then cultured in vitro. Upon IL- l β-stimulation, the degeneration of CDs was verified by inverted microscope, toluidine blue stain and type H collagen immunocytochemistry. After IL-1 β-stimulated CDs were intervened with blank control serum, ZGJXD-S, together with or without SB203580 （a specific inhibitor of p38 MAPK） for 48 h, caveoUn-1 protein expression and the phosphorylation level of p38 were determined by Western blotting, and the mRNA expression of IL- 1β-, tumor necrosis factor ~ （TNF-oL）, matrix metalloproteinase 3 （MMP-3） and MMP-β were examined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results： IL-1 β- stimulation induced degeneration of CDs, increased caveolin-1 expression and p38 phosphorylation, up-regulated the mRNA level of IL-1 β, TNF-β, MMP-3 and MMP-β. However, the IL-1 β-induced activation of caveolin-p38 signaling and alteration in the expression of p38 downstream target genes were suppressed by ZGJXD-S and/or SB203580 in CDs. Conclusion： ZGJXD can prevent CDs degeneration via inhibition of caveolin-p38 MAPK signal pathway, which might be one of the mechanisms that ZGJXD treats osteoarthritis.