Department of Herbal Pharmacology, College of Korean Medicine, Gachon University, 1342 Seongnamdae-ro, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si 13120, Republic of Korea.
Naturalis Inc., 6 Daewangpangyo-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si 13549, Republic of Korea.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Oct 3;25(19):10647. doi: 10.3390/ijms251910647.
In the past 30 years, the number of years lived with disability due to osteoarthritis (OA) has doubled, making it an increasing global health burden. To address this issue, interventions that inhibit the progressive pathology driven by age-related low-grade inflammation, the primary mechanism of OA, are being actively pursued. Recent investigations have focused on modulating the age-related low-grade inflammatory pathology of this disease as a therapeutic target. However, no agent has successfully halted the disease's progression or reversed its irreversible course. Houtt. (RJ), a promising East Asian herbal medicine, has been utilized for several diseases due to its potent anti-inflammatory activity. This study aims to determine RJ's capacity to inhibit OA symptoms and associated inflammation, exploring its potential for further development. In vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated RJ's anti-OA activity and modulation of multifaceted inflammatory targets. RJ significantly inhibited pain, gait deterioration, and cartilage destruction in a monosodium iodoacetate-induced OA rat model, with its analgesic effect further confirmed in an acetic acid-induced writhing model. RJ exhibited consistent anti-inflammatory activity against multiple targets in serum and cartilage of the OA rat model and lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 cells. The inhibition of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, matrix metalloproteinase-13, tumor necrosis factor-α, and nitric oxide synthase 2, suggests that RJ's alleviation of OA manifestations relates to its multifaceted anti-inflammatory activity. These results indicate that RJ merits further investigation as a disease-modifying drug candidate targeting OA's inflammatory pathology. To further characterize the pharmacological properties of RJ, future studies with expanded designs are warranted.
在过去的 30 年中，由于骨关节炎（OA）导致的残疾生活年数增加了一倍，使其成为全球日益严重的健康负担。为了解决这个问题，人们正在积极寻求抑制由年龄相关的低度炎症引起的进行性病理的干预措施，这是 OA 的主要机制。最近的研究集中在调节这种疾病的与年龄相关的低度炎症病理作为治疗靶点。然而，没有一种药物成功地阻止了疾病的进展或逆转其不可逆转的进程。
厚朴（RJ）是一种有前途的东亚草药，由于其强大的抗炎活性，已被用于多种疾病。本研究旨在确定 RJ 抑制 OA 症状和相关炎症的能力，探索其进一步开发的潜力。体内和体外实验表明 RJ 具有抗 OA 活性和调节多种炎症靶点的能力。RJ 显著抑制了碘乙酸单钠诱导的 OA 大鼠模型中的疼痛、步态恶化和软骨破坏，其镇痛作用在醋酸诱导的扭体模型中进一步得到证实。RJ 对 OA 大鼠模型和脂多糖诱导的 RAW264.7 细胞的血清和软骨中的多种炎症靶点表现出一致的抗炎活性。抑制炎症细胞因子，包括白细胞介素-1β、白细胞介素-6、基质金属蛋白酶-13、肿瘤坏死因子-α和一氧化氮合酶 2，表明 RJ 缓解 OA 表现与它的多方面抗炎活性有关。这些结果表明，RJ 值得进一步研究，作为一种针对 OA 炎症病理的疾病修饰药物候选物。为了进一步描述 RJ 的药理学特性，需要进行设计更扩展的未来研究。
