Open AccessBaicalein alleviates osteoarthritis by protecting subchondral bone, inhibiting angiogenesis and synovial proliferation
Author(s) -
Li Bin,
Chen Kaizhe,
Qian Niandong,
Huang Ping,
Hu Fangqiong,
Ding Tao,
Xu Xing,
Zhou Qi,
Chen Bo,
Deng Lianfu,
Ye Tianwen,
Guo Lei
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of cellular and molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.44
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1582-4934
pISSN - 1582-1838
DOI - 10.1111/jcmm.16538
Subject(s) - baicalein , scutellaria baicalensis , osteoarthritis , medicine , angiogenesis , pharmacology , cartilage , inflammation , apoptosis , cancer research , immunology , pathology , traditional chinese medicine , chemistry , anatomy , biochemistry , alternative medicine
Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most frequent chronic joint diseases with the increasing life expectancy. The main characteristics of the disease are loss of articular cartilage, subchondral bone sclerosis and synovium inflammation. Physical measures, drug therapy and surgery are the mainstay of treatments for OA, whereas drug therapies are mainly limited to analgesics, glucocorticoids, hyaluronic acids and some alternative therapies because of single therapeutic target of OA joints. Baicalein, a traditional Chinese medicine extracted from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, has been widely used in anti‐inflammatory therapies. Previous studies revealed that baicalein could alleviate cartilage degeneration effectively by acting on articular chondrocytes. However, the mechanisms involved in baicalein‐mediated protection of the OA are not completely understood in consideration of integrality of arthrosis. In this study, we found that intra‐articular injection of baicalein ameliorated subchondral bone remodelling. Further studies showed that baicalein could decrease the number of differentiated osteoblasts by inhibiting pre‐osteoblasts proliferation and promoting pre‐osteoblasts apoptosis. In addition, baicalein impaired angiogenesis of endothelial cells and inhibited proliferation of synovial cells. Taken together, these results implicated that baicalein might be an effective medicine for treating OA by regulating multiple targets.