Anticatabolic Effects of Morin through the Counteraction of Interleukin-1β-Induced Inflammation in Rat Primary Chondrocytes

Baicalein inhibits IL-1β-induced extracellular matrix degradation with decreased MCP-1 expression in primary rat chondrocytes

Baicalein is a flavonoid extracted from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis and Scutellaria lateriflora. This compound exerts various biochemical activities, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The study aimed to investigate the effect of baicalein on articular cartilage cells and elucidate its underlying mechanism. In primary rat chondrocyte cultures, treatment with baicalein demonstrated a reduction in the loss of proteoglycan and extracellular matrix degradation induced by interleukin (IL)-1β. Baicalein suppressed IL-1β-induced catabolic responses, including the expression and activation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13, MMP-3, and MMP-1. In addition, baicalein effectively reduced nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 production, and it downregulated the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 in primary rat chondrocytes. Furthermore, baicalein downregulated IL-1β-induced inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, such as GM-CSF and MCP-1. These findings suggest that baicalein could potentially mitigate the catabolic responses of IL-1β in chondrocytes, making it a promising candidate for both the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43188-024-00225-4.

Extraction and detection of morin from Sanghuangporus lonicericola by magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers coupled with HPLC analysis

In this study, morin magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (Morin-MMIPs) were synthesized based on magnetic nanoparticles and surface molecularly imprinted technology with superparamagnetism and extraction selectivity. The polymers allowed the separating of morin from complex matrices in the presence of an external magnetic field with no need for centrifugation or filtration. The microstructure of the polymers was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Meanwhile, the functional group and magnetic properties of the polymers were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and magnetic vibration meter (VSM). The maximum adsorption capacity of MMIPs was 3.24 mg/g, which was 2.55 times higher than that of MNIPs (1.27 mg/g). Morin was quantified by HPLC-DAD, which showed good linearity in the concentration range of 0.05-60 µg/ml with the correlation coefficient R²  = 0.9993. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.08 µg/ml, and the spiked recoveries were 87.5-106.8%. The calculation of the adsorption isotherm and kinetic model revealed the adsorption mechanisms, and the adsorption process was consistent with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm and pseudo-secondary kinetic models. Likewise, the material has been successfully used to extract and separate morin from food samples. The method reported in this paper has the advantages of fast adsorption speed, high selectivity, and environmental friendliness. It provided a reliable method for the separation and detection of morin or other natural products.

The role of flavonoids in inhibiting IL-6 and inflammatory arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that primarily affects the synovial joints. RA has well-known clinical manifestations and can cause progressive disability and premature death along with socioeconomic burdens. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been implicated in the pathology of RA where it can stimulate pannus formation, osteoclastogenesis, and oxidative stress. Flavonoids are plant metabolites with beneficial pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, and others. Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds found in a variety of plants, vegetables, and fruits. Many flavonoids have demonstrated anti-arthritic activity mediated mainly through the suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This review thoroughly discusses the accumulate data on the role of flavonoids on IL-6 in RA.

Therapeutic Single Compounds for Osteoarthritis Treatment

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related degenerative disease for which an effective disease-modifying therapy is not available. Natural compounds derived from plants have been traditionally used in the clinic to treat OA. Over the years, many studies have explored the treatment of OA using natural extracts. Although various active natural extracts with broad application prospects have been discovered, single compounds are more important for clinical trials than total natural extracts. Moreover, although natural extracts exhibit minimal safety issues, the cytotoxicity and function of all single compounds in a total extract remain unclear. Therefore, understanding single compounds with the ability to inhibit catabolic factor expression is essential for developing therapeutic agents for OA. This review describes effective single compounds recently obtained from natural extracts and the possibility of developing therapeutic agents against OA using these compounds.

Flavonoids in the Treatment of Diabetes: Clinical Outcomes and Mechanism to Ameliorate Blood Glucose Levels

BACKGROUND

For thousands of years, natural food products have been used as a medicine for treating diseases that affect the human body, including diabetes mellitus (DM). Lately, several investigations have been performed on the flavonoid derivatives of plant origin, and their biological activity has been extensively studied.

METHODS

Given our need to know more mechanisms for treating DM, we performed a thorough research review on treating diabetes mellitus based on flavonoids, their therapeutic potential, and biological action.

RESULTS

Flavonoids reduce complications in addition to their vital role as effective supplements for preventing diabetes mellitus by regulating glucose metabolism, lipid profile, liver enzyme activity, a protein kinase inhibitor, PPAR, and AMPK with NF-κB.

CONCLUSION

The articles that we reviewed showed the positive role of flavonoids, which in a certain way reduce diabetes, but their side effects still need to be studied further.This review is focused on describing the different types of dietary flavonoids along with their mechanisms of reducing blood glucose and enhancing insulin sensitivity, as well as their side effects.

Intrathecal Injection of SIRT1-modified Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Alleviates Neuropathic Pain in Rat

Accumulating evidence has elucidated that human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) exert profound analgesic effects on numerous animal models of neuropathic pain, including drug-induced peripheral nerves, diabetes-induced neuropathy, and chronic constriction injury. We aimed to address whether forcing expression of sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) can enhance the efficacy of hMSCs on alleviation of pain sensation. A rat model of chronic constriction injury (CCI) mimicking peripheral nerve injury was incorporated in the study. Paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) and paw withdrawal latency (PWL) testing were used to measure pain-related behavior. Our results demonstrated that SIRT1 was decreased post-CCI surgery. Compared to hMSCs-control implantation, the hMSCs-SIRT1 (hMSCs overexpressing SIRT1) implantation exhibited superior effects on reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in serum and spinal dorsal horn, while ameliorating neuropathic pain in CCI rat. Engineering hMSCs such as overexpressing SIRT1 may serve as a promising strategy for the treatment of patients with neuropathic pain.