Abstract
The root of Dipsacus asperoides C. Y. Cheng et T. M. Ai is traditionally used as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent to treat pain, rheumatoid arthritis, and bone fractures. However, neither its effects on osteoarthritis (OA) nor its effects on the arthritic cartilage tissue transcriptome have not been fully investigated. In this study, we used a rat model of monosodium iodoacetate- (MIA-) induced OA to investigate the therapeutic effects of a Dipsacus asperoides ethanolic extract (DAE, 200 mg/kg for 21 days). The study first assessed joint diameter, micro-CT scans, and histopathological analysis and then conducted gene expression profiling using RNA sequencing in articular cartilage tissue. We found that DAE treatment ameliorates OA disease phenotypes; it reduced the knee joint diameter and prevented changes in the structural and histological features of the joint, thereby showing that DAE has a protective effect against OA. Based on the results of gene expression profiling and subsequent pathway analysis, we found that several canonical pathways were linked to DAE treatment, including WNT/β-catenin signaling. Taken together, the present results suggest molecular mechanism, involving gene expression changes, by which DAE has a protective effect in a rat model of MIA-induced OA.
Highlights
Treatment with Dipsacus asperoides ethanolic extract (DAE) attenuated these conditions; Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) score, a histopathological grading system of OA cartilage, was lower in Monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)/DAE-treated rats (Figures 3B–D). These results demonstrate that DAE treatment improved the overall damage to articular cartilage induced by MIA, thereby showing that DAE had protective effects on the knee joint in OA rats
We explored important OA-related genes whose expression was affected by DAE treatment at the protein level by performing immunohistochemistry on arthritic knee joint tissues
Our results showed that DAE treatment ameliorates OA disease phenotypes; DAE treatment reduced joint diameter and prevented changes in the structural and histological features associated with OA, thereby confirming that it protected against OA
Summary
M. Ai (family Caprifoliaceae) is a traditional medicine listed in the Korean Pharmacopoeia and Chinese Pharmacopoeia (KIOM, 2020). According to the Korean Medicine Classification of Efficacy, Dipsacus asperoides is a tonifying and replenishing medicine or a yang-tonifying medicine that is traditionally used as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent to treat pain, rheumatoid arthritis, and bone fractures (Gong et al, 2019).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
