Tadafumi Tamura* and Kenji Ohmori
Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd., Shimotogari,
Nagaizumi, Sunto, Shizuoka 411-8731, Japan
*Corresponding author. FAX: +81-559-86-7430
E-mail: tadafumi.tamura@kyowa.co.jp
Abstract: Diacerein has proved to be effective in the treatment of
osteoarthritis. We investigated the effects of rhein, an active metabolite
of diacerein, on the degradation of recombinant human interleukin-1a
(rhIL-1a)-induced proteoglycan and matrix metalloproteinases
(MMPs) release from rabbit articular chondrocytes. Chondrocytes were treated
for 24 h with rhein in the presence of rhIL-1a.
Rhein suppressed the rhIL-1a-induced proteoglycan
degradation. In addition, rhein decreased the rhIL-1a-induced
proMMP-3 production and reduced the MMPs activity. These results suggested
that diacerein might have a protective effect on proteoglycan degradation
via the suppressive effect of rhein on the production of proMMPs.
Keywords: Diacerein, Rhein, Chondroprotection
Copyright The Japanese Pharmacological Society
[Back to TOC]