Anti-Inflammatory, Analgesic, Functional Improvement, and Chondroprotective Effects of Erigeron breviscapus (Vant.) Hand.-Mazz. Extract in Osteoarthritis: An In Vivo and In Vitro Study

• Published in: Nutrients 2024-04, Vol.16 (7), p.1035
• Main Authors: Jo, Hee-Geun, Baek, Chae Yun, Lee, JunI, Hwang, Yeseul, Baek, Eunhye, Hwang, Ji Hye, Lee, Donghun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; analgesic; Analgesics; Animals; anti-inflammatory; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Arthritis; Cartilage; chondroprotective; Disease; east Asian herbal medicine; Erigeron; Erigeron breviscapus; Inflammation; Medical research; Mice; Natural products; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Osteoarthritis; Osteoarthritis - chemically induced; Osteoarthritis - drug therapy; Pain - drug therapy; Pathophysiology; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Rats; Regulatory approval; Research Design; Toxicity
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu16071035

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative bone disease characterized by inflammation as a primary pathology and currently lacks therapeutic interventions to impede its progression. (Vant.) Hand.-Mazz. (EB) is an east Asian herbal medicine with a long history of use and a wide range of confirmed efficacy against cardiovascular and central nervous system diseases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether EB is worthy of further investigation as a treatment for OA based on anti-inflammatory activity. This study aims to assess the potential of EB as a treatment for OA, focusing on its anti-inflammatory properties. Analgesic effects, functional improvements, and inhibition of cartilage destruction induced by EB were evaluated in acetic acid-induced peripheral pain mice and monosodium iodoacetate-induced OA rat models. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory effect of EB was assessed in serum and cartilage tissue in vivo, as well as in lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 cells. EB demonstrated a significant alleviation of pain, functional impairment, and cartilage degradation in OA along with a notable inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, matrix metalloproteinases 13, and nitric oxide synthase 2, both in vitro and in vivo, in a dose-dependent manner compared to the active control. Accordingly, EB merits further exploration as a potential disease-modifying drug for OA, capable of mitigating the multifaceted pathology of osteoarthritis through its anti-inflammatory properties. Nonetheless, additional validation through a broader experimental design is essential to substantiate the findings of this study.