Effects Of Baicalein On IL-1β-induced Apoptosis And Matrix Dagradation In Articular Chondrocytes

Currently, available treatments for osteoarthritis(OA) are restricted to relieve symptoms which can not achieve the goal of preventing or curing osteoarthritis. Patients take paracetamol, NSAIDs, COX-2 inhibitors or inject glucocorticoid and hyaluronic acid in articulation to treat OSTEOARTHRITIS, which exhibit numerous side effects. Thus novel, safe and more e fficacious anti-inflammatory agents are needed for osteoarthritis. More recently, plant extract has become the focus of the treatment of osteoarthritis. Baicalein is a flavone compound extracted from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, a Chinese medicinal plant. Baicalein demonstrates various biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrosis, anti-apoptotic and anti-tumor. In this study, we examined the effect of baicalein on apoptosis and cartilage matrix in rat chondrocytes treated with IL-1β.First, cell viability was measured by CCK-8 assay. Second, Western blot analysis the expression of Collagen II, SOX-9, poly ADP-ribose polymerase(PARP), caspase-3 and Bcl-2 and the expression of p65 and phospho-p65 of NF-κB signaling pathway. Immunofluorescence microscopy was employed to reveal translocation of phosphorylated p65.Western blot analysis show that baicalein inhibited the IL-1β-induced down-regulation of Collagen II、SOX-9,cleaved of PARP and activated caspase-3. It also stimulate the expression of Bcl-2 in chondrocytes. Proteins p65 and phosphorylated p65 were analyzed by Western blot and immunofluorescence microscopy, the results showed that the baicalein inhibited the activation of NF-κB signaling pathways. The results indicated that baicalein inhibit IL-1β-induced rat chondrocyte apoptosis and matrix dagradation by inhibited NF-κB signaling pathway.In conclusion, the results presented that baicalein inhibited IL-1β-induced activation of NF-κB signaling pathways and protect the articular chondrocytes in vitro, which indicated that baicalein may be used as a potential anti-osteoarthritis therapy in the future.