Figure 5. Effect of silibinin on IL-1β-induced aggrecan and collagen-II degradation in human OA chondrocytes.

Human OA chondrocytes were pretreated for 2 h with silibinin (1, 10, 50 μM) and then stimulated or not stimulated with IL-1β (10 ng/ml) for 24 h. The mRNA expression levels of aggrecan (A) and collagen-II (B) were assayed by qRT-PCR. The protein expression levels of collagen-II were determined by immunofluorescence and quantification analysis (C). The values are mean ± SD. ^#p < 0.05 compared with control group, ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01 compared with IL-1β group. n=6