Stable sulforaphane protects against gait anomalies and modifies bone microarchitecture in the spontaneous STR/Ort model of osteoarthritis

Javaheri B, Poulet B, Aljazzar A, de Souza R, Piles M, Hopkinson M, Shervill E, Pollard A, Chan B, Chang YM, Orriss IR, Lee PD, Pitsillides AA · Bone

Cartilage was not protected: histologically graded lesion severity, osteophytes and mineralised meniscus were all unchanged by treatment, and the subchondral plate was not altered either. What changed was bone elsewhere in the tibia (more metaphyseal trabecular bone, greater cortical area and predicted bending strength, higher P1NP and lower CTX-I in serum) and gait, where the asymmetry that developed in vehicle-treated mice did not emerge in treated ones. The authors read the gait change as acting on pain rather than on the joint. The model is spontaneous: no joint was cut to start the disease.

Population

STR/Ort mice, which develop osteoarthritis spontaneously rather than by surgery

Intervention

Stabilized sulforaphane (SFX-01) at 100 mg/kg daily by mouth for 3 months, from 26 weeks of age when the disease is already established

Comparator

Untreated STR/Ort mice

Limitations

Eight mice per group, and the gait result rests on the ten that completed the treadmill task (4 vehicle, 6 treated) on one principal component. Stabilized sulforaphane is a formulated compound, not broccoli, and treatment began after the disease had. Funded by the BBSRC and Arthritis Research UK; the compound was supplied by its maker.