Galactose Enhances Chondrogenic Differentiation of ATDC5 and Cartilage Matrix Formation by Chondrocytes

Metabolomic profiles of cartilage and bone reflect tissue type, radiography-confirmed osteoarthritis, and spatial location within the joint

Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic joint disease, characterized by the abnormal remodeling of joint tissues including articular cartilage and subchondral bone. However, there are currently no therapeutic drug targets to slow the progression of disease because disease pathogenesis is largely unknown. Thus, the goals of this study were to identify metabolic differences between articular cartilage and subchondral bone, compare the metabolic shifts in osteoarthritic grade III and IV tissues, and spatially map metabolic shifts across regions of osteoarthritic hip joints. Articular cartilage and subchondral bone from 9 human femoral heads were obtained after total joint arthroplasty, homogenized and metabolites were extracted for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Metabolomic profiling revealed that distinct metabolic endotypes exist between osteoarthritic tissues, late-stage grades, and regions of the diseased joint. The pathways that contributed the most to these differences between tissues were associated with lipid and amino acid metabolism. Differences between grades were associated with nucleotide, lipid, and sugar metabolism. Specific metabolic pathways such as glycosaminoglycan degradation and amino acid metabolism, were spatially constrained to more superior regions of the femoral head. These results suggest that radiography-confirmed grades III and IV osteoarthritis are associated with distinct global metabolic and that metabolic shifts are not uniform across the joint. The results of this study enhance our understanding of osteoarthritis pathogenesis and may lead to potential drug targets to slow, halt, or reverse tissue damage in late stages of osteoarthritis.

Comparative evaluation of enriched formula milk powder with OPO and MFGM vs. breastfeeding and regular formula milk powder in full-term infants: a comprehensive study on gut microbiota, neurodevelopment, and growth

This study investigated the non-inferiority of feeding term healthy infants with enriched formula milk powder containing 1,3-dioleoyl-2-palmitoylglycerol (OPO) and milk fat globular membrane (MFGM), compared to breast milk, in terms of the formation of gut microbiota, neurodevelopment and growth. Infants were divided into three groups: breast milk group (BMG, N = 50), fortified formula group (FFG, N = 17), and regular formula group (RFG, N = 12), based on the feeding pattern. Growth and development information was collected from the infants at one month, four months, and six months after the intervention. Fecal samples were collected from infants and analyzed for gut microbiota using 16S ribosomal DNA identification. The study found that at the three time points, the predominant bacterial phyla in FFG and BMG were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes, which differed from RFG. The abundance of Bifidobacterium in the RFG was lower than the FFG (one month, p = 0.019) and BMG (four months, p = 0.007). The abundance of Methanoprebacteria and so on (genus level) are positively correlated with bone mineral density (BMD) of term infants, and have the potential to be biomarkers for predicting BMD. The abundance of beta-galactosidase, a protein that regulates lactose metabolism and sphingoid metabolism, was higher in FFG (six months, p = 0.0033) and BMG (one month, p = 0.0089; four months, p = 0.0005; six months, p = 0.0005) than in the RFG group, which may be related to the superior bone mineral density and neurodevelopment of infants in the FFG and BMG groups than in the RFG group. Our findings suggest that formula milk powder supplemented with OPO and MFGM is a viable alternative to breastfeeding, providing a practical alternative for infants who cannot be breastfed for various reasons.