Interleukin-17 Can Induce Osteoarthritis in Rabbit Knee Joints Similar to Hulth’s Method

Figure 5

Graphs showing the RNA expression levels of MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-13, ADAMTS-4, ADAMTS-5, COMP, COL10A1, COL1A2, and COL2A1 in articular cartilage. Compared to the control group, the expression of MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-13, ADAMTS-4, ADAMTS-5, COMP, COL10A1, and COL1A2 was significantly increased at 72 h, 1 week, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks in the Hulth group and in the 3 groups injected with different concentrations of IL-17. At 12 weeks, MMP-13 expression was markedly reduced in all the experimental groups, whereas MMP-1, MMP-3, ADAMTS-4, ADAMTS-5, COMP, COL10A1, and COL1A2 expression remained high. COL2A1 expression was significantly reduced at all 5 time points in the Hulth group and in the 3 groups injected with different concentrations of IL-17. There were no significant differences in MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-13, ADAMTS-4, ADAMTS-5, COMP, COL10A1, COL1A2, or COL2A1 expression levels between the Hulth group and the 10-ng group or the 50-ng group. Compared to the control group, , . Comparing the 3 IL-17 groups to the Hulth group, , .