Gentiopicroside improves the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response and hypertrophy in chondrocytes

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of gentiopicroside against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced chondrocyte inflammation. Methods: Chondrocytes were stimulated with LPS (5 μg/ml) for 24 h, and treated with different concentrations of GPS (10, 20, 40 μM) for 24 h. The toxic effects of GPS on chondrocytes were determined using a CCK-8 assay and Edu staining. Western blot, qPCR, and immunofluorescence were used to explore the protective effects of gentiopicroside on the inflammatory response of chondrocytes induced by LPS. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the differences between the data groups (significance level of 0.05). Results: The CCK-8 results showed that 10, 20 and 40 μM GPS had no significant toxicity on chondrocytes; GPS effectively reduced the production of IL-1β and PGE2, reversed LPS-induced extracellular matrix degradation in cartilage by inhibiting the Stat3/Runx2 signaling pathway, and suppressed the hypertrophic transformation of chondrocytes. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that GPS has a significant inhibitory effect on the LPS-induced inflammatory response and hypertrophic cellular degeneration in chondrocytes and is a valuable traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.