Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 12 pp 5775—5797
Astaxanthin prevents osteoarthritis by blocking Rspo2-mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling in chondrocytes and abolishing Rspo2-related inflammatory factors in macrophages
Figure 3. Effects of astaxanthin on normal chondrocytes (NCs) and osteoarthritic chondrocytes (OACs). (A) Effect of astaxanthin on the activity of NCs and OAC cells detected by CCK8. (B) Effect of astaxanthin on the levels of inflammatory factors (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α) in NCs and OACs detected by ELISA. (C) Effect of astaxanthin on the apoptosis rate of NCs and OACs detected by flow cytometry with annexin V-FITC/PI analysis. (D) Western blot was used to detect the effect of astaxanthin on the expression of NC- and OAC-related proteins. The data are represented as the mean ± S.D. of three independent experiments (n = 3). ns: Not significant vs NC group; *p < 0.05 vs NC group; **p < 0.01 vs NC group; ***p < 0.001 vs NC group; #p < 0.05 vs OAC group; ##p < 0.01 vs OAC group.