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 4. Astaxanthin abrogated the process of OA by inhibiting the Rspo2-related Wnt/β-catenin pathway. (A) Effect of astaxanthin, shRspo2 or astaxanthin combined with shRspo2 on the activity of OAC cells detected by CCK8. (B) Effect of astaxanthin, shRspo2 or astaxanthin combined with shRspo2 on the levels of inflammatory factors (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α) in OACs detected by ELISA. (C) Effect of astaxanthin, shRspo2 or astaxanthin combined with shRspo2 on the apoptosis rate of OAC cells detected by flow cytometry with annexin V-FITC/PI analysis. (D) Western blotting was used to detect the effect of astaxanthin, shRspo2 or astaxanthin combined with shRspo2 on the expression of OAC-related proteins. The data are represented as the mean ± S.D. of three independent experiments (n = 3). *p < 0.05 vs the OAC group; **p < 0.01 vs the OAC group; ***p < 0.001 vs the OAC group; ns: Not significant vs the OAC+AST+shRspo2 group; #p < 0.05 vs the OAC+AST+shRspo2 group; ##p < 0.01 vs the OAC+AST+shRspo2 group.