Fig. 6.

Effects of PEA-Q on MIA-induced plasma cytokines, metalloproteinases and NGF in OA rats. Increased TNF-α (a) IL-1β (b), NGF (c) and MMP1 (d), MMP-3 (e), MMP-9 (f) plasma concentrations were detected in the MIA + vehicle group compared to sham animals. PEA-Q treatment significantly reduced the plasma concentration of all measured parameters, with effects being comparable to the meloxicam group. Values are means ± SEM of 10 animals for each group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.001 and***p < 0.0001 vs sham. ^# p < 0.05, ^## p < 0.001 and ^### p < 0.0001 vs MIA + vehicle. °p < 0.05 vs MIA + PEA-Q (10 mg/kg) and MIA + meloxicam. The exact p values are reported in the text