Yao Nan, Chen Neng, Xu Xuemeng, Sun Dongmei, Liu Wengang, Li Gang, Bi Xiaoli, Li Sumei, Chen Zhao, Chen Guocai, Gan Haining
Orthopedics Department, Guangdong Second Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510095, P.R. China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research and Development in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Province Engineering Technology Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510095, P.R. China.
Exp Ther Med. 2017 Jun;13(6):3013-3020. doi: 10.3892/etm.2017.4349. Epub 2017 Apr 18.
Shenmai injection (SMI) has been widely used as a therapy to treat a number of diseases. However, its anti-osteoarthritic properties have not yet been fully investigated. In the present study, the protective effect of SMI on knee articular cartilage of anterior cruciate ligament transected rabbits and interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-stimulated human chondrocytes was investigated. For the study, knee osteoarthritis (KOA) was induced in female New Zealand white rabbits by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) in the knee of right hind limb. Rabbits either underwent sham surgery or ACLT surgery. Out of the rabbits receiving ACLT surgery, half of the rabbits received one 0.3 ml Shenmai intra-articular injection in the knee per week for four weeks, following ACLT surgery. The other rabbits received the same volume of normal saline solution. The cartilage was subsequently collected for histological evaluation. For the study, cultured human chondrocytes were treated with 10 ng/ml IL-1β in the presence or absence of 5 and 2% (v/v) SMI for 24 h. Nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels in cell culture supernatant were assessed using a Griess reaction and ELISA respectively. The mRNA expression of cyclooxgenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, MMP-13 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in chondrocytes were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results of the current study revealed that treatment with SMI ameliorated cartilage degradation in the ACLT rabbit model, and decreased levels of NO and PGE2. Furthermore, treatment with SMI decreased levels of COX-2, iNOS, MMP-1 and MMP-13 mRNA expression and increased TIMP-1 mRNA expression in IL-1β-stimulated human chondrocytes. These results indicate that SMI suppresses inflammation and ameliorated cartilage degradation, making it a potential and promising therapeutic option to treat KOA.
参麦注射液（SMI）已被广泛用作治疗多种疾病的疗法。然而，其抗骨关节炎特性尚未得到充分研究。在本研究中，研究了参麦注射液对前交叉韧带横断兔膝关节软骨和白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）刺激的人软骨细胞的保护作用。在本研究中，通过右后肢膝关节前交叉韧带横断（ACLT）诱导雌性新西兰白兔患膝骨关节炎（KOA）。兔子要么接受假手术，要么接受ACLT手术。在接受ACLT手术的兔子中，一半兔子在ACLT手术后每周在膝关节内注射一次0.3 ml参麦注射液，共四周。另一半兔子注射相同体积的生理盐水。随后收集软骨进行组织学评估。在本研究中，在存在或不存在5%和2%（v/v）参麦注射液的情况下，用10 ng/ml IL-1β处理培养的人软骨细胞24小时。分别使用格里斯反应和酶联免疫吸附测定法评估细胞培养上清液中的一氧化氮（NO）和前列腺素E2（PGE2）水平。通过逆转录-定量聚合酶链反应检测软骨细胞中环氧合酶-2（COX-2）、诱导型一氧化氮合酶（iNOS）、基质金属蛋白酶（MMP）-1、MMP-13和金属蛋白酶组织抑制剂-1（TIMP-1）的mRNA表达。本研究结果表明，参麦注射液治疗可改善ACLT兔模型中的软骨降解，并降低NO和PGE2水平。此外，参麦注射液治疗可降低IL-1β刺激的人软骨细胞中COX-2、iNOS、MMP-1和MMP-13 mRNA表达水平，并增加TIMP-1 mRNA表达。这些结果表明，参麦注射液可抑制炎症并改善软骨降解，使其成为治疗KOA的一种潜在且有前景的治疗选择。
