Green tea polyphenol treatment is chondroprotective, anti-inflammatory and palliative in a mouse post-traumatic osteoarthritis model

Leong DJ, Choudhury M, Hanstein R, Hirsh DM, Kim SJ, Majeska RJ, Schaffler MB, Hardin JA, Spray DC, Goldring MB, Cobelli NJ, Sun HB · Arthritis Research & Therapy

Structure and pain measured in the same animals. At 4 and 8 weeks the EGCG mice had less Safranin O loss, less cartilage erosion and lower OARSI scores, with reduced aggrecan and type II collagen cleavage epitopes and reduced MMP-13 and ADAMTS5 staining in articular cartilage, plus lower MMP-1, -3, -8, -13, ADAMTS5, IL-1β and TNF-α mRNA. Pain behaviour on von Frey and open-field testing improved alongside.

Population

C57BL/6 mice after destabilization of the medial meniscus or sham surgery

Intervention

EGCG 25 mg/kg daily by intraperitoneal injection for 4 or 8 weeks

Comparator

Vehicle

Limitations

Delivered by intraperitoneal injection, not by drinking, so it bypasses the absorption question entirely. An erratum was published in 2019.