Fig. 2. Effect of glycyrrhizin, quercitrin or prunetin on MMP-3 gene expression in rabbit chondrocytes.

Primary cultured rabbit articular chondrocytes were pretreated with varying concentrations (1, 10, 50, and 100 µM) of glycyrrhizin, quercitrin or prunetin for 2 h and then stimulated with IL-1β (10 ng/mL) for 24 h. MMP-3 gene expression level was measured by RT-PCR. Three independent experiments were performed and the representative data were shown. The signal intensity of each band was analyzed by GelQuant software (DNR Bio-Imaging Systems Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel). Each bar represents a mean±S. E.M. of three independent experiments in comparison with that of the control set at 100%. ^*significantly different from control (p<0.05), ⁺significantly different from IL-1β alone (p<0.05) (cont: control, concentration unit is µM).