Background: Curcumin has anti-inflammatory effects. However, curcumin is poorly water-soluble, and when administered orally, formscurcumin conjugates with poor efficacy.Curcumin monoglucuronide (TBP1901) is highly water-soluble and can existinthe free-form in a greater proportion than curcumin in vivo. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of intra-articular TBP1901 injections fora rat model of osteoarthritis (OA).Methods: Sixty-four male Wistar rats (12weeks old) that had receivedthe destabilized medial meniscus(DMM) surgery, were randomly separatedinto the TBP1901 injectionandthe saline solution injection (control) group. They were sacrificedat 1, 2, 6, or 10weeks postoperatively(n = 8 for each). The TBP1901 (30mg/mL) andsaline solutionof 50μLwere administered to the knee joint through the patella tendon twice a week for the rats sacrificedat1 and 2weeks or once a week for at6 and 10weeks. The OA changes were evaluated by micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), histology, and immunohistochemical analysis.Results:Curcumin fluorescence was confirmed in the articular cartilageand synovium of rats with TBP1901 injections at all observation periods.The TBP1901injections significantly reducedthe synovial inflammation at 1 and 2 weeks and the expression of TNFα in thetibialarticular cartilage at 6 weeks postoperatively.Moreover, TBP1901 injections ameliorated the articular cartilage structure, the subchondral bone (SB) plate thickness, and perforations from 6 to 10 weeks.As a result, there were significant differencesbetween groups in OA scores, SB plate thickness, and perforations at 10 weeks postoperatively.In addition, osteophyte formation in the TBP1901group was significantly suppressed after 10 weeks.Conclusion: This study reports the first evidence that TBP1901 injections suppress inflammation and osteophyte formation, and ameliorate the articular cartilage and SB pathologies by absorption in the articular cartilage and synovium in a rat DMM model.Therefore, intra-articular injections of TBP1901may be effective in improving OA pathology.