Promotion of the articular cartilage proteoglycan degradation by T-2 toxin and selenium protective effect

Objective: To identify the relationship between T-2 toxin and Kashin-Beck disease (KBD),the effects of T-2 toxin on aggrecan metabolism in human chondrocytes and cartilage were investigated in vitro. Methods: Chondrocytes were isolated from human articular cartilage and cultured in vitro. Hyaluronic acid (HA),soluble CD44 (sCD44),IL-1β and TNF-α levels in super-natants were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). CD44 content in chondrocyte membrane was deter-mined by flow cytometry (FCM). CD44,hyaluronic acid synthetase-2 (HAS-2) and aggrecanases mRNA levels in chondrocytes were determined using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Immunocytochemical method was used to investigate expressions of BC-13,3-B-3(-) and 2-B-6 epitopes in the cartilage reconstructed in vitro. Results: T-2 toxin inhibited CD44,HAS-2,and aggrecan mRNA expressions,but promoted aggrecanase-2 mRNA expression. Meanwhile,CD44 expression was found to be the lowest in the chondrocytes cultured with T-2 toxin and the highest in control plus selenium group. In addition,ELISA results indicated that there were higher sCD44,IL-1β and TNF-α levels in T-2 toxin group. Similarly,higher HA levels were also observed in T-2 toxin group using radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA). Furthermore,using monoclonal antibodies BC-13,3-B-3 and 2-B-6,strong positive immunostaining was found in the reconstructed cartilage cultured with T-2 toxin,whereas no positive staining or very weak staining was observed in the cartilage cultured without T-2 toxin. Selenium could partly inhibit the effects of T-2 toxin above. Conclusion: T-2 toxin could inhibit aggrecan synthesis,promote aggrecanases and pro-inflammatory cytokines production,and consequently induce aggrecan degradation in chondrocytes. These will perturb metabolism balance between aggrecan synthesis and degradation in cartilage,inducing aggrecan loss in the end,which may be the initiation of the cartilage degradation.

THE EFFECT ON PROTEOGLYCAN METABOLISM OF DEOXYNIVALENOL AND SELENIUM IN THE CULTURED HUMAN FETAL CHONDROCYTES IN VITRO

Objective To investigate the effect of deoxynivalenol (DON) and selenium (Se) on the morphology of chondrocytes and the metabolism of cartilage matrix, and the expression of aggrecanase-1, 2 mRNA in monolayer cultured chondrocytes in vitro. Methods To plant human fetal chondrocytes on the BMG, the expression of Aggrecanase-1, 2 mRNA were analyzed by RT-PCR, the immunohistochemistry of NITEGE epitope was quantitativly analyzed by the image collection and analysis system. Results With the increase of the concentration of DON, the damage of cultured chondrocytes was more and more severe; the expression of NITEGE epitope showed an increasing trend and the fluorescent bands of aggrecanase-1, 2 mRNA were more and more obvious. After adding Se, the damage was relieved, and there was a decreasing trend of NITEGE epitope expressed in matrix. Conclusion DON can enhance transcription of aggrecanase gene and increase the expression of NITEGE epitope which eventually lead to the metabolic disorder of cartilage proteoglycan. It suggested that Se can partially alleviate the damage of DON on cartilage, but can not completely prevent the occurrence of these changes.

Action Mechanisms of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis （RA） is characterized as a chronic inflammatory disease in joints and concomitant destruction of cartilage and bone. Cartilage extracellular matrix components, such as type Ⅱ collagen and aggrecan are enzymatically degraded by matrix metalloproteinases （MMPs） and aggrecanases in RA. Currently, treatments targeting cytokines, including anti-tumor necrosis factor （TNF） α antibodies, soluble TNF receptor, anti-interleukin （IL）-6 receptor antibody, and IL-1 receptor antagonist, are widely used for treating RA in addition to anti- inflammatory agents and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs （DMARDs）, such as methotrexate, but these treatments have some problems, especially in terms of cost and the increased susceptibility of patients to infection in addition to the existence of Iow-responders to these treatments. Therefore, therapeutics that can be safely used for an extended period of time would be preferable. Complementary and alternativemedicines including traditional Chinese medicines （TCM） have been used for the arthritic diseases through the ages. Recently, there are many reports concerning the anti-arthritic action mechanisms of TCM-based herbal formulas and crude herbal extracts or isolated ingredients. These natural herbal medicines are thought to moderately improve RA, but they exert various actions for the treatment of RA. In this review, the current status of the mechanism exploration of natural compounds and TCM-based herbal formulas are summarized, focusing on the protection of cartilage destruction in arthritic diseases including RA and osteoarthritis.