Effects of peptidic glycosaminoglycans complex on human chondrocytes cultivated in three dimensions

Effects of glucosamine sulfate on intracellular UDP-hexosamine and UDP-glucuronic acid levels in bovine primary chondrocytes

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the effects of exogenously added glucose (Glc), glucosamine (GlcN) and glucosamine sulfate (GS) on the intracellular UDP-hexoses (UDP-Hex), UDP-N-acetylhexosamines (UDP-HexN) and UDP-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcA) levels in bovine primary chondrocytes.

METHODS

Chondrocytes were incubated with different concentrations of Glc, GlcN and GS either in high- or low-glucose DMEM for up to 120min to analyze the intracellular levels of UDP-Hex, UDP-GlcA and UDP-HexN by a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analysis. Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis rate and aggrecan mRNA expression levels were quantified using (35)S-sulfate incorporation assay and quantitative real-time RT-PCR, respectively. The cells were cultivated for 2 days or 8 days before UDP-sugar analysis.

RESULTS

Levels of UDP-HexN and UDP-GlcA were unchanged at 10microM concentration of GS in low-glucose DMEM, while addition of 1mM GlcN or GS in low-glucose DMEM for 10min increased UDP-HexN level. The highest intracellular level of UDP-HexN was reached at 30min after addition of 1mM GS to the cells. The intracellular contents of UDP-HexN and UDP-GlcA related to UDP-Hex were higher after prolonged cultivation of chondrocytes for 8 days compared with 2-day-old cultures. Aggrecan mRNA expression and GAG synthesis remained at control level after the cells were treated with 10, 100microM or 1mM of GS for 24h.

CONCLUSION

Physiologically relevant level of GS could not increase the intracellular UDP-HexN and UDP-GlcA levels in bovine primary chondrocyte, while longer-time culture itself appeared to increase the intracellular UDP-HexN and UDP-GlcA levels.

The lack of effect of glucosamine sulphate on aggrecan mRNA expression and 35S-sulphate incorporation in bovine primary chondrocytes

Glucosamine and glucosamine sulphate have been promoted as a disease-modifying agent to improve the clinical symptoms of osteoarthritis. The precise mechanism of the action of the suggested positive effect of glucosamine or glucosamine sulphate on cartilage proteoglycans is not known, since the level of glucosamine in plasma remains very low after oral administration of glucosamine sulphate. We examined whether exogenous hexosamines or their sulphated forms would increase steady-state levels of aggrecan and hyaluronan synthase (HAS) or glycosaminoglycan synthesis using Northern blot and (35)S-sulphate incorporation analyses. Total RNA was extracted from bovine primary chondrocytes which were cultured either in 1 mM concentration of glucosamine, galactosamine, mannosamine, glucosamine 3-sulphate, glucosamine 6-sulphate or galactosamine 6-sulphate for 0, 4, 8 and 24 h, or in three different concentrations (control, 100 microM and 1 mM) of glucosamine sulphate salt or glucose for 24 or 72 h. Northern blot assay showed that neither hexosamines nor glucosamine sulphate salt stimulated aggrecan and HAS-2 mRNA expression. Glycosaminoglycan synthesis remained at a control level in the treated cultures, with the exception of mannosamine which inhibited (35)S-sulphate incorporation in low-glucose DMEM treatment. In our culture conditions, hexosamines or their sulphated forms did not increase aggrecan expression or (35)S-sulphate incorporation.

Pharmacological influence of antirheumatic drugs on proteoglycans from interleukin-1 treated articular cartilage

The purpose of this study was to examine whether drugs used in the treatment of arthritic disorders possess any inhibitory potential on the proteoglycanolytic activities of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and to determine whether drugs which inhibit these enzymes also modulate the biosynthesis and release of proteoglycans (PGs) from interleukin-1-(IL-1) treated articular cartilage explants. The cartilage-bone marrow extract and the glycosaminoglycan-peptide complex (DAK-16) dose-dependently inhibited MMP proteoglycanases in vitro when tested at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 55 mg/mL, displaying an IC50 value of 31.78 mg/mL and 10.64 mg/mL (1.9 x 10[-4] M) respectively. (R,S)-N-[2-[2-(hydroxyamino)-2-oxoethyl]-4-methyl-1-oxopentyl++ +]-L-leucyl-L-phenylalaninamide (U-24522) proved to be a potent inhibitor of MMP proteoglycanases (IC50 value 1.8 x 10[-9] M). None of the other tested drugs, such as possible chondroprotective drugs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), glucocorticoids and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors tested at a concentration of 10(-4) M displayed any significant inhibition. Only U-24522, tested at a concentration ranging from 10(-4) to 10(-6) M, significantly inhibited the IL-1-induced augmentation of PG loss from cartilage explants into the nutrient media, whereas DAK-16 and the cartilage-bone marrow extract were ineffective. DAK-16 and the cartilage-bone marrow extract did not modulate the IL-1-mediated reduced biosynthesis and aggregability of PGs by the cartilage explants. The addition of 10(-5) M U-24522, however, partially maintained the aggregability of PGs ex vivo. In our experiments, both possible chondroprotective drugs as well as U-24522 demonstrated no cytotoxic effects on chondrocytes.

The inhibitory effects of antirheumatic drugs on the activity of human leukocyte elastase and cathepsin G

The serine proteinases elastase and cathepsin G from polymorphonuclear granulocytes play a critical role in articular cartilage degradation, not only as proteolytic enzymes able to degrade the extracellular matrix but also by additionally modulating the level of active matrix metalloproteinases, key enzymes of the proteolytic destruction of cartilage during rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of our study was to examine whether anti-inflammatory drugs and selected compounds inhibited elastase and cathepsin G, and also to determine whether it is necessary to use a highly purified elastase preparation to screen drugs for their ability to block the activity of this enzyme. Eglin C and the glycosaminoglycan-peptide complex DAK-16, at concentrations ranging from 10(-9) to 10(-4) M, dose-dependently inhibited elastase and cathepsin G while the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs oxyphenbutazone, phenylbutazone, sulfinpyrazone and diclofenac-Na required high concentrations to demonstrate some inhibitory effects on the activity of both enzymes. None of the other anti-inflammatory drugs tested at a concentration of 10(-4) M such as acetylsalicylic acid, dexamethasone, indomethacin, ketoprofen, naproxen, oxaceprol, pirprofen and tiaprofenic acid demonstrated any marked inhibitory activity on either of these proteinases. Only a few drugs, when dosed therapeutically, achieved synovial fluid concentrations sufficient to inhibit the activities of both proteinases. The antirheumatic drugs demonstrated similar inhibition profiles in purified or partially purified elastase preparations. Thus the leukocyte extract containing the partially purified elastase and cathepsin G which can be rapidly and easily prepared at low costs appears to be an efficient mean of screening potentially new therapeutic agents for their ability to inhibit leukocyte elastase and cathepsin G.

Effects of sodium naproxen on differentiated human chondrocytes cultivated in clusters

The effects of different pharmacological concentrations of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) sodium naproxen (NAP) were tested on several metabolic functions of differentiated human chondrocytes cultivated in clusters and compared with the action of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA). DNA synthesis was significantly inhibited by ASA but not by NAP. Proteoglycan production was also markedly decreased by ASA, while synthesis of type II collagen was not modified. By contrast, NAP did not affect these chondroformative processes. Both NSAIDs were potent inhibitors of prostaglandin E2 production. These results indicate that in terms of the parameters tested NAP does not lead to deleterious effects on human articular chondrocytes cultured in vitro.

Amelioration of lapine osteoarthritis by treatment with glycosaminoglycan-peptide association complex (Rumalon)

The chondroprotective potential of glycosaminoglycan-peptide association complex (GP-C) was examined in the medial meniscectomy model of lapine osteoarthritis (OA). Prophylactic treatment with increasing doses of intramuscular GP-C (0.05-0.5 ml/kg) caused a significant reduction in OA lesion area and histologic scores, and the effect on disease activity appeared to be dose related. The DNA and uronic acid contents of OA tissue were unaffected by prophylactic treatment with GP-C. However, levels of hydroxyproline in OA cartilage increased to near control levels with prophylactic treatment. Cartilage levels of active and total metalloproteinases that digest proteoglycans were elevated in rabbits with OA; prophylactic treatment with low-dose GP-C (0.05 ml/kg) produced a significant reduction in active, but not total, enzyme. Cartilage levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases in animals with OA were comparable with control levels, but rose with increasing doses of GP-C. We also investigated GP-C as a therapeutic treatment in animals that had already developed OA lesions. Carbon black retention and histologic score returned to near-normal after therapeutic treatment with GP-C. Uronic acid and hydroxyproline levels were decreased in OA cartilage. Therapeutic treatment with GP-C had no statistically significant effect on uronic acid levels, but was associated with increased hydroxyproline content in the cartilage. The changes in metalloproteinase and metalloproteinase inhibitor were similar to those found in the studies of prophylactic treatment. The findings in this animal model may help explain some of the beneficial effects of GP-C in human OA.

Study of the effect of a glycosaminoglycan-peptide complex on the degradative enzyme activities in human osteoarthritic cartilage

The in vitro collagenolytic and proteoglycanasic activity from human fibrillated osteoarthritic cartilage was determined using labelled proteoglycans and type II collagen as substrates. In vitro, a glycosaminoglycan-peptide complex (GP-C Rumalon) induced a dose-dependent inhibition of both collagenolytic and proteoglycanasic activities while sodium salicylate and indomethacin had only a weak suppressive effect on proteoglycanase. Phospholipase A2 activity was unmodified by GP-C suggesting that the effect of the drug on degradative enzymes was unrelated to prostaglandin formation.

In vitro assays of chondrocyte functions: the influence of drugs and hormones

Human articular chondrocytes may be cultured in three dimensions, according to a method already validated. This model allows us to study the repair processes of the cartilage, by measuring the proliferative activity of chondrocytes and the synthesis of two major constituents of matrix: proteoglycans and type II collagen. Some substances are characterised by stimulatory effect on DNA synthesis and no effect or a defective effect on matrix components: this is the case for Epidermal Growth Factor. Others are able to stimulate (hGH) or to depress (acetyl salicylic acid) both chondrocyte proliferation and matrix components synthesis. Finally, some substances called "chondroprotective", such as the glycosaminoglycan-peptide complex, GP-C (Rumalon) stimulate either the proliferative response or the synthesis of proteoglycans and type II collagen, according to the dose.

Effects of etodolac on human chondrocytes cultivated in three dimensional culture

Human chondrocytes in three-dimensional culture were incubated for up to 20 days in the presence of etodolac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug which penetrates readily into the synovial fluid. Even at an etodolac concentration of 80 micrograms/ml, DNA synthesis, proteoglycan synthesis, and type-II collagen synthesis were unchanged. Collagenase production was also unaffected by etodolac (60 micrograms/ml). In contrast, prostaglandin E2 production was reduced by 84% in the presence of 60 micrograms/ml of etodolac. The 80 micrograms/ml concentration is 5 times that found in the serum of subjects treated with 200 mg of etodolac twice a day for 6 days, and 33 times the concentration in synovial fluid of arthritic patients treated with etodolac 200 mg twice a day for 7 days. These in vitro results indicate that anti-inflammatory levels of etodolac may not damage articular cartilage in vivo.

New diagnostic tools and methodological approaches: an outlook to the future

In spite of recent progress, the aetio-pathogenesis of a large number of osteoarticular diseases is as yet not well known. This is apparent for commonly occurring diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), type I osteoporosis (post-menopausal) and type II osteoporosis (senile). As a result of the lack of knowledge about these pathogenic factors, therapeutics often remain symptomatic and not completely satisfactory. Nowadays there is a need for methodological tools to explore the causes or pathogenic factors of these conditions. Moreover, in OA, there is at present no way to predict the development of this disease and to follow its evolution, hence, there is a need for specific markers. These biological and methodological developments are useful for searching for new molecules able to compensate for the pathogenic anomalies demonstrated in RA and OA. In this paper, we will discuss some of the methodological developments now in progress which may provide solutions to some of the aetiopathogenic, diagnostic and therapeutic problems related to RA and OA.