Electroacupuncture Upregulates HIF-1α and SOX9 Expression in Knee Osteoarthritis.

Jie Tong,Guanghua Sun,Ting Peng,Ying Liao,Fu Luo,Jun Zhou,Chengyuan Deng,Ye Zeng,Tiantian Wang,Qi Wu,Peirui Zhong,Yuan Liao,Antonella Fioravanti

doi:10.1155/2021/2047097

Abstract

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been clinically used in knee osteoarthritis broadly and proved to be effective than other therapies with fewer side effects; however, the mechanism of electroacupuncture to work on cartilage remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of EA treatment on cartilage and the relationship between EA and proteins such as HIF-a and SOX9. EA (dilatational wave, 3–15 HZ, 1 mA) has been applied to bilateral Zusanli (ST36), Xuehai (SP10), Taixi (KI3), and Yanglingquan (GB34) of rats. Results showed that the cartilage of the knee osteoarthritis group had obvious damage and fissure formation while the EA group showed that the cartilage destruction was generally milder. In addition, the protein expression levels of HIF-1α, and chondrogenic markers such as Sox9, and ACAN in the electroacupuncture group were higher than those in the ACLT group. Also, the extracellular matrix protein expression levels of MMP13 and ADAMTS5 were decreased in the EA group. These findings indicate that EA could alleviate the severity of knee osteoarthritis, and HIF-a and SOX9 may closely attribute to the treatment.

Highlights

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative joint disease and the leading cause of physical disability [1]
Natural development induced-OA is costly and time consuming, while anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) is a standard OA induction procedure widely used in rats or rabbits to mimic posttraumatic OA in humans and leads to mild OA that limits to a partial cartilage degeneration [26]
We found that EA decreased the Mankin scores in rats than ACLT group, which indicates that EA plays a critical role in cartilage protection and disease modification

Summary

Introduction

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative joint disease and the leading cause of physical disability [1]. Knee osteoarthritis affects approximately 265 million people worldwide and was estimated in 2017 to account for 8.3 million years lived with disability [2]. Despite its prevalence and severity, few safe and effective treatments are available for patients with osteoarthritis so far, due to poor understanding of disease mechanisms [3]. OA is characterized by cartilage degeneration, bone remodeling [4], osteophytes, synovitis, and sclerosis [5]. Damaged cartilage has limited capacity of regeneration and repairment for its avascular and nerveless structure, resulting in progressive total joint destruction [6]. Adult articular cartilage consists of chondrocytes and extracellular matrix (ECM), such as collagens and proteoglycans including aggrecan (ACAN)

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