Protective effect of ethanolic extract of Echinacea purpurea contained nanoparticles on meniscal/ligamentous injury induced osteoarthritis in obese male rats

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease associated with age, mechanical stress, and obesity. Echinacea purpurea is a medicinal plant that shows good anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory activities. In this study, Echinacea purpurea ethanol extract nanoparticles (Nano-EE) were prepared by encapsulating Echinacea purpurea ethanol extract (EE) in chitosan-silica nanoparticles. Obesity (OB) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats was induced by fed 40% high-fat diet and then anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus injury were performed to induce OA. The rats got different doses of samples by oral gavage. The encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of Nano-EE were 69.1% and 36.1%, respectively. The average size, polydispersity index (PDI), and zeta potential (ZP) of the Nano-EE were 145 ± 11 nm, 0.24 ± 0.01, − 4.57 ± 0.44 mV, respectively. Furthermore, electron microscopic images showed that the particles were spherical and were slightly agglomerated. Moreover, it showed that the leptin content, expression of MMPs, cytokines level, NF-κB level, and iNOS production were decreased whereas collagen II expression was increased after treatment. Besides, Nano-EE ameliorated the pain caused by OA and reduced the proteoglycan loss in cartilage. These results indicated that encapsulated EE (Nano-EE) can ameliorate OA with a low dosage and are more effective than unencapsulated EE.

Phytosynthesis of Biological Active Silver Nanoparticles Using Echinacea purpurea L. Extracts

“…This plant gained its reputation due to its medicinal and phytochemical compounds, being used in the treatment of skin conditions, chronic arthritis, intestinal pain, convulsions, and cancer [ 10 ], and at the same time representing a valuable source of antioxidants, which can be formulated for oral consumption [ 11 ]. Recently, an Echinacea ethanol extract encapsulated in chitosan-silica nanoparticles was proven to have a protective role against meniscal/ligamentous-injury-induced osteoarthritis in the obese rats [ 12 ]. Moreover, the nano-encapsulated materials acted as a pain ameliorator, at the same time reducing cartilage proteoglycan losses.…”

L-Carnitine augments probenecid anti-inflammatory effect in monoiodoacetate-induced knee osteoarthritis in rats: involvement of miRNA-373/P2X7/NLRP3/NF-κB milieu

“…In addition to sub-synovial tissue fibrosis, synovial hyperplasia was seen. There were collections of mixed lymphoplasmacytic infiltration and large congested vascular areas (Hamdalla et al 2022 ; Johnson et al 2022 ). Also, the total score given upon assessment of the synovial membrane of knee joint H and E stained sections was significantly increased in OA rats as compared to normal rats, indicating the occurrence of hyperplasia and inflammation.…”

Soluble and EV-Associated Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarkers in Knee Osteoarthritis Pathology and Detection

“…The binding of IL-1β to the receptor IL-1RI from the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family causes a multistep activation of transcription factors. It leads to increased gene expression and results in the production of other cytokines, chemokines, adhesion molecules and various degradation enzymes [ 81 ]. IL-1β significantly contributes to the composition of the ECM by influencing cell metabolism.…”