Abstract
Context: Dexmedetomidine (Dex) has been reported to have an anti-inflammatory effect. However, its role on osteoarthritis (OA) has not been explored.Objective: This study investigates the effect of Dex on OA rat model induced by papain.Materials and methods: The OA Wistar rat model was induced by intraluminal injection of 20 mL of papain mixed solution (4% papain 0.2 mL mixed with 0.03 mol L−1 l-cysteine 0.1 mL) into the right knee joint. Two weeks after papain injection, OA rats were treated by intra-articular injection of Dex (5, 10, or 20 μg kg−1) into the right knee (once a day, continuously for 4 weeks). Articular cartilage tissue was obtained after Dex treatment was completed.Results: The gait behavior scores (2.83 ± 0.49), PWMT (15.2 ± 1.78) and PTWL (14.81 ± 0.92) in H-DEX group were higher than that of OA group, while Mankin score (5.5 ± 0.81) was decreased (p < 0.05). Compared with the OA group, the IL-1β (153.11 ± 16.05 pg mg−1), IL-18 (3.71 ± 0.7 pg mg−1), IL-6 (14.15 ± 1.94 pg/mg) and TNF-α (40.45 ± 10.28 pg mg−1) levels in H-DEX group were decreased (p < 0.05). MMP-13, NLRP3, and caspase-1 p10 expression in Dex groups were significantly lower than that of OA group (p < 0.05), while collagen II was increased (p < 0.05). p65 in the nucleus of Dex groups was significantly down-regulated than that of OA group (p < 0.05).Discussion and Conclusions: Dex can improve pain symptoms and cartilage tissue damage of OA rats, which may be related to its inhibition of the activation of NF-κB and NLRP3 inflammasome.
Highlights
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disease that occurs in the elderly
After the last injection of papain solution for 1 week and 2 weeks, four rats were randomly selected from OA and control group, and the paraffin sections of articular cartilage were obtained for Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Safranin O-Fast Green staining for model identification
We found that the expression of Nod-like receptor pyrin domain 3 (NLRP3), acupaspase recruitment domain (ASC) and caspase-1 p10 in articular cartilage tissue of OA group was significantly increased compared with the control group (p < 0.05)
Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disease that occurs in the elderly. About 15% of the world’s population suffers from OA (Lawrence et al 2008). OA is the most common form of disability in the elderly, no drug exists to slow the progression, or reverse the OA disease process (McCarthy and Cheung 2009). Once the development of OA enters the end stage, joint replacement is the only effective treatment. Non-surgical treatment of OA is mostly aimed at alleviating pain caused by inflammatory reaction and alleviating symptoms.
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