(188ch) A Study of the Effect of Nutraceuticals on Healthy and Interleukin ?-1 Induced Osteoarthritis in Bovine Articular Chondrocytes

Articular cartilage is an avascular tissue with diffusion limited nutrient and oxygen transfer, making its ability to self-heal and regenerate limited. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease characterized by the degradation of articular cartilage in the joints leading to a severe pain that may develop into a disability. Many factors can contribute to conditions that lead to OA such as genetics, obesity, aging, poor nutrition, and trauma. More than 50 million adults currently have been diagnosed with OA in the U.S., and it is estimated that the number will increase to more than 78 million by 2040. Presently, there are no available cures; instead treatments are only effective in reducing the symptoms associated with OA. They rely on painkillers, hyaluronic acid injections to cushion the joints, and invasive micro-fracture surgeries that release stem cells from underlying bone to produce non-load-bearing fibrocartilage. One contributor to OA is the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROSs), which activate enzymes like metalloproteinase 13 and nitrogen oxide synthetase (MMP-13 and NOS, respectively). Activated enzymes lead to a series of inflammatory reactions in the tissue which result in the degradation of extracellular matrix components such as collagen type II and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Nutraceuticals are naturally occurring substances derived from plants and fruits and serve as ROS scavengers. Providing nutraceuticals to OA patients can potentially help in slowing down the degradation of the cartilage extracellular matrix. In this talk, we will present results from our ongoing study that aims to test the effects of four different nutraceutical medium supplements on alleviating OA in healthy bovine articular chondrocytes and arthritic-induced chondrocytes caused by inflammatory interleukin beta-1 compared to a nutraceutical-free negative control medium. The nutraceuticals being tested are catechin hydrate, gallic acid, alpha tocopherol, and ascorbic acid. The effects of these nutraceuticals on alleviating OA and therefore re-inducing healthy chondrogenesis is studied using biochemical analyses and histology for total GAG and collagen and through observance of proliferation of cells as evidenced by total DNA content. Our current findings which tested the effects of nutraceuticals on healthy bovine articular chondrocytes (bAChs) indicate that catechin hydrate caused an increase in total GAG content compared to other treatments and the negative control. Our results also indicate that all nutraceuticals had positive effects on the cultures where the DNA content increased with culture duration, with ascorbic acid being the best to induce proliferation. The collagen content increased for all treatments as time progressed with catechin hydrate and gallic acid having the large impacts. Based on the findings of this study, and since the use of the four nutraceuticals improved healthy chondrocytes with no inflammation, our ongoing study will test the effects of nutraceuticals on IL-β1-induced inflammation of bAChs, the result of which will also presented herein. We hypothesize that using any of the four nutraceuticals will have a positive and improved effect on IL-β1 induced osteoarthritic bAChs by reducing the inflammation caused by ROS and offers support for therapeutic use of nutraceuticals to help alleviate OA.