monascin and Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related degenerative disease and is the fourth major cause of disability, but there are no effective therapies because of its complex pathology and the side effects of the drugs. Previous research demonstrated that inflammation and ECM degradation play major roles in OA development. Monascin is an azaphilonoid pigment extracted from Monascus-fermented rice with a potential anti-inflammatory effect reported in various preclinical studies. In the present study, we investigated the protectiveness of monascin on interleukin (IL)-1β-induced mouse chondrocytes and surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus mouse (DMM) OA models. In vitro, monascin treatment inhibited the IL-1β-induced expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E

Topics: Animals; Chondrocytes; Cyclooxygenase 2; Dinoprostone; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Heterocyclic Compounds, 3-Ring; Humans; Interleukin-1beta; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; NF-kappa B; Nitric Oxide; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; Osteoarthritis; Signal Transduction