Protective effect of glucosamine and risedronate (alone or in combination) against osteoarthritic changes in rat experimental model of immobilized knee

Abstract

This study is aiming to investigate the protective effect of glucosamine, risedronate (alone or in combination) on articular cartilage in experimental model of immobilized rat knee. Twenty-five adult male albino rats were divided into five groups (five rats each): control group, immobilized group, glucosamine-treated group, risedronate-treated group, and group treated by a combination of glucosamine and risedronate. The articular cartilage was obtained for histological, immunohistochemical and morphometric studies. The immobilized group showed manifestations of osteoarthritis in the form of significant decrease of articular cartilage thickness with surface erosions, shrunken chondrocytes with pyknotic nuclei and marked manifested fall of chondrocyte number. There was manifested reduction of collagen contents of the articular cartilage using Masson trichrome stain. Safranin O-Fast Green revealed low proteoglycan contents. The collagen type II was also declined. The manikin score was 7.8. Risedronate improved this manifestation slightly more than glucosamine, but combination of booth drugs caused significant improvement of the damaged articular cartilage caused by immobilization. Oral administration of glucosamine and risedronate improved the degenerative changes of rat knee articular cartilage that follow immobilization. This improvement was more remarkable when both drugs were used in combination.

No Effect of Long-Term Risedronate Use on Cartilage and Subchondral Bone in an Experimental Rabbit Model of Osteoarthritis

“…This supports the findings of other preclinical studies, which did not find any chondroprotective effect of BP treatment on articular cartilage damage score either (12,14). On the other hand, some authors reported a significant positive effect of bisphosphonates on OA severity scores, showing fewer degenerative changes compared to the untreated animals (3,10,13,17,19,49,50). Moreover, a previous study of our research group, has shown a modest chondroprotective effect with short-term risedronate administration (24).…”

“…It is believed that bisphosphonates could modulate the subchondral bone remodeling and consequently inducing changes in the OA progression, reducing the cartilage degeneration ( 3 , 10 , 13 , 18 – 20 , 49 ). In previous preclinical studies, risedronate has shown a reduction in the cartilage pathology ( 50 ) and changes in cancellous bone microarchitecture leading to improved mechanical properties ( 17 , 23 , 24 ). However, contradictory results in clinical trials hindered their acceptation regarding the disease-modifying efficacy in the scientific community ( 15 , 51 ).…”

L-Carnitine augments probenecid anti-inflammatory effect in monoiodoacetate-induced knee osteoarthritis in rats: involvement of miRNA-373/P2X7/NLRP3/NF-κB milieu

“…The untreated OA group had thinned articular cartilage with surface abrasions. This was coupled with the observation of disorganized chondrocytes and depletion of proteoglycan (Lu et al 2018 ; Salman et al 2019 ). The total modified Mankin score given upon assessment of the articular cartilage of knee joint safranin-O-fast green stained sections was significantly increased in OA rats as compared to normal rats, indicating the occurrence of cartilage erosion and decrease in proteoglycan content (Jeong et al 2017 ).…”

Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate: Is There Any Scientific Evidence for Their Effectiveness as Disease-Modifying Drugs in Knee Osteoarthritis Preclinical Studies?—A Systematic Review from 2000 to 2021

“…Furthermore, the combination of nutraceutical and other therapies and drugs was also investigated. In this context beneficial effects were observed in the association of glucosamine and risedronate [31,36], glucosamine and fish collagen peptide [37] and glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate plus fursultiamine, where only the combined group with the addition of the vitamin showed a significant chondroprotective effect [39]. Furthermore, in one study using an OA experimental model in rats, enhanced responses were observed with the association of glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate and photobiomodulation [43].…”

“…Two studies in rats [27,28] and the one which included the mice model [29] used intraarticular injections to chemically induce OA. Only two studies, one involving rabbits [30] and another involving rats [31], used physically immobilisation to induce the OA. Lastly, only one study in guinea pigs was included as a spontaneous model of OA [32].…”