Division of Life and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Sedaemun-gu, Seoul 03760, Korea.
R&D Center, Novarex Co., Ltd., 60 Gangni 1-gil, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28126, Korea.
Nutrients. 2020 Mar 30;12(4):956. doi: 10.3390/nu12040956.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease and a leading cause of adult disability. Since there is no cure for OA and no effective treatment to slow its progression, current pharmacologic treatments, such as analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), only alleviate symptoms, such as pain and inflammation, but do not inhibit the disease process. Moreover, chronic intake of these drugs may result in severe adverse effects. For these reasons, patients have turned to the use of various complementary and alternative approaches, including diverse dietary supplements and nutraceuticals, in an effort to improve symptoms and manage or slow disease progression. The present study was conducted to evaluate the anti-osteoarthritic effects of FlexPro MD (a mixture of krill oil, astaxanthin, and hyaluronic acid; FP-MD) in a rat model of OA induced by monosodium iodoacetate (MIA). FP-MD significantly ameliorated joint pain and decreased the severity of articular cartilage destruction in rats that received oral supplementation for 7 days prior to MIA administration and for 21 days thereafter. Furthermore, FP-MD treatment significantly reduced serum levels of the articular cartilage degeneration biomarkers cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and crosslinked C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II), and the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), as well as mRNA expression levels of inflammatory mediators, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and matrix-degrading enzymes, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9, in the knee joint tissue. Our findings suggest that FP-MD is a promising dietary supplement for reducing pain, minimizing cartilage damage, and improving functional status in OA, without the disadvantages of previous dietary supplements and medicinal agents, including multiple adverse effects.
骨关节炎（OA）是一种退行性关节疾病，也是成年人残疾的主要原因。由于 OA 无法治愈，也没有有效的治疗方法来减缓其进展，目前的药物治疗方法，如镇痛药和非甾体抗炎药（NSAIDs），只能缓解疼痛和炎症等症状，但不能抑制疾病进程。此外，长期服用这些药物可能会导致严重的不良反应。出于这些原因，患者已经转向使用各种补充和替代方法，包括各种膳食补充剂和营养保健品，以改善症状并管理或减缓疾病进展。本研究旨在评估 FlexPro MD（一种由磷虾油、虾青素和透明质酸组成的混合物；FP-MD）在碘乙酸单钠（MIA）诱导的 OA 大鼠模型中的抗骨关节炎作用。FP-MD 显著改善了关节疼痛，并减轻了接受口服补充剂治疗 7 天，随后再接受 MIA 治疗 21 天的大鼠的关节软骨破坏程度。此外，FP-MD 治疗还显著降低了血清中软骨寡聚基质蛋白（COMP）和 II 型胶原交联 C 端肽（CTX-II）等关节软骨退化生物标志物、促炎细胞因子肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）和白细胞介素-6（IL-6）的水平，以及膝关节组织中炎症介质诱导型一氧化氮合酶（iNOS）和环氧化酶-2（COX-2）以及基质降解酶基质金属蛋白酶（MMP）-2 和 MMP-9 的 mRNA 表达水平。我们的研究结果表明，FP-MD 是一种有前途的膳食补充剂，可减轻疼痛、最大限度地减少软骨损伤并改善 OA 的功能状态，而没有以前的膳食补充剂和药物的缺点，包括多种不良反应。
