Figure 3.

Arctigenin (ATG) shows a protective effect on the ECM metabolism. The human chondrocytes were pre‐treated with ATG (5, 10, 50 μmol/L) before the IL‐1β irritation. A, The protein level of Col II, MMP‐13 aggrecan and ADAMTS‐5 from human OA chondrocytes was detected by ELISA. (B,C), The representative fluorescence image of collagen II and MMP13 with DAPI (nuclei); scale bar: 50 μm. (D,E), The ImageJ software was used to quantify the fluorescence intensity of MMP‐13 and collagen II. Data represented are the means ± SD #P < .05, ##P < .01, vs control group; *P < .05,**P < .01, vs IL‐1β–alone treatment group, n = 5