| James Michael Howard 2006-10-13, 8:26 am |
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Rheumatol Int. 2006 Oct 11; [Epub ahead of print]
Effect of dehydroepiandrosterone on cartilage and synovium of knee joints
with osteoarthritis in rabbits.
Wu LD, Yu HC, Xiong Y, Feng J.
Department of Orthopaedics, The 2nd Hospital of Medical College, Zhejiang
University, JieFang Road 88#, 310009, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of intra-articular
injection of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on cartilage and synovium of
knee joints with osteoarthritis (OA) in rabbits and the underlying
mechanism. Forty rabbits underwent unilateral anterior cruciate ligament
transaction and were divided into two groups. Rabbits were injected with
100 mumol/l DHEA dissolved in the dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) in the knee
joints 5 weeks after transaction, once a week for 5 weeks. Rabbits injected
with DMSO under the same condition were served as a control. All rabbits
were killed 1 week after the last injection. The knee joints were evaluated
by gross morphology, histology, and gene expression analysis. Gross
morphologic inspection and histological evaluation showed that the DHEA
group appeared less damage in cartilage and synovium as compared with the
control. Gene expression analysis revealed that the mRNA expression of
matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) in cartilage and synovium decreased
significantly in the DHEA group and that of tissue inhibitor of
metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) increased. No significant difference of
interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) mRNA expression was found in the cartilage
between two groups while the mRNA expression of IL-1beta in the synovium
was largely suppressed in the DHEA group. The study suggests that DHEA
plays a protective role against cartilage degradation and synovium
inflammation in rabbits with OA. This role may be achieved through the
regulation of the MMP-3, TIMP-1, and IL-1beta gene expression in the
cartilage and synovium.
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