Betulinic Acid Attenuates Osteoarthritis via Limiting NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation to Decrease Interleukin-1β Maturation and Secretion

Figure 6

BA protected against DMM-induced degradation of mice knee cartilage matrix. (a) Sagittal pictures of cell nucleus (blue), ACAN (red), and mergence in the knee cartilage of mice. (b) IHC sagittal images of MMP-13 and IHC sagittal images of (c) COL X and (d) COL II. (e) Quantification of the positive area of ACAN expression (n = 3–5), and quantification of the positive area of (f) MMP-13 (n = 3), (g) COL X (n = 3–5), and (h) COL II expression (n = 4–6). vs. Sham + Vehicle group; ^#, ^##, ^### vs. DMM + Vehicle group; ^$, ^$$$vs. DMM + Low-dose group; ns: no significance; scale bar = 100 µm.

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