Spinacia oleracea extract attenuates disease progression and sub-chondral bone changes in monosodium iodoacetate-induced osteoarthritis in rats

Abstract

BackgroundSpinacia oleracea is an important dietary vegetable in India and throughout the world and has many beneficial effects. It is cultivated globally. However, its effect on osteoarthritis that mainly targets the cartilage cells remains unknown. In this study we aimed to evaluate the anti-osteoarthritic and chondro-protective effects of SOE on chemically induced osteoarthritis (OA).MethodsOA was induced by intra-patellar injection of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) at the knee joint in rats. SOE was then given orally at 250 and 500 mg.kg− 1 day− 1 doses for 28 days to these rats. Anti-osteoarthritic potential of SOE was evaluated by micro-CT, mRNA and protein expression of pro-inflammatory and chondrogenic genes, clinically relevant biomarker’s and behavioural experiments.ResultsIn vitro cell free and cell based assays indicated that SOE acts as a strong anti-oxidant and an anti-inflammatory agent. Histological analysis of knee joints at the end of the experiment by safranin-o and toluidine blue staining established its protective effect. Radiological data corroborated the findings with improvement in the joint space and irregularity of the articular and atrophied femoral condyles and tibial plateau. Micro-CT analysis of sub-chondral bone indicated that SOE had the ability to mitigate OA effects by increasing bone volume to tissue volume (BV/TV) which resulted in decrease of trabecular pattern factor (Tb.Pf) by more than 200%. SOE stimulated chondrogenic marker gene expression with reduction in pro-inflammatory markers. Purified compounds isolated from SOE exhibited increased Sox-9 and Col-II protein expression in articular chondrocytes. Serum and urine analysis indicated that SOE had the potential to down-regulate glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity, clinical markers of osteoarthritis like cartilage oligometric matrix protein (COMP) and CTX-II. Overall, this led to a significant improvement in locomotion and balancing activity in rats as assessed by Open-field and Rota rod test.ConclusionOn the basis of in vitro and in vivo experiments performed with Spinacea oleracea extract we can deduce that SOE has the ability to alleviate the MIA induced deleterious effects.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12906-018-2117-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Effects of Annatto Tocotrienol Supplementation on Cartilage and Subchondral Bone in an Animal Model of Osteoarthritis Induced by Monosodium Iodoacetate

“…The formation of fibrous pannus over the cartilage was hypothesized to be a failed reparative mechanism during osteoarthritis [25]. The products of cartilage breakdown, such as COMP and hyaluronic acid, were also found to be higher in MIA-treated rats compared to the sham group, comparable to observation in previous MIA osteoarthritis models [26,27].…”

Protective effect of ethyl acetate fraction from Semen sojae germinatum, the processed sprout of Chinese black soybean, on rat experimental osteoarthritis

“…At present, it has been clinically recognized that functional dietary food or food products could be used as proper health supplements or phyto-pharmaceuticals to fight against multiple disease conditions [17,18]. In particular, the benefits of soy-derived products on OA have been clearly established [14][15][16][17][18][19]. For example, the insufficient consumption of soy products is considered as a predictor for knee OA among elderly Japanese women [19], while soy intake improved the biochemical markers and the symptoms of OA [20].…”

Effects of Extract of Arrabidaea chica Verlot on an Experimental Model of Osteoarthritis

“…The antinociceptive activity of A. chica extract was observed from the improvement of motor activity from day 21 after OA induction, in all doses, similar to meloxicam (Figure 2). Treatment with the dose of 500 mg/kg of Spinacia oleracea L. extract also showed improvement in the motor activity of the animals, but only later (day 28) [40].…”