Betaine Attenuates Osteoarthritis by Inhibiting Osteoclastogenesis and Angiogenesis in Subchondral Bone

Yajun W, et al. · Frontiers in Pharmacology

Betaine reduced cartilage proteoglycan loss, lowered OARSI histology scores, decreased MMP-13/collagen-X-positive cells and normalised subchondral bone remodelling and aberrant angiogenesis, apparently via ROS/MAPK-dependent inhibition of osteoclastogenesis.

Population

Mice with surgically induced (ACLT) knee OA; osteoclast cultures

Intervention

Betaine 2% w/v in drinking water from the day after ACLT surgery, to 14, 30 or 60 days

Comparator

Untreated ACLT mice

Limitations

Mouse surgical-OA model; the methods state the dose but not the group sizes; no human data. Funded by Chinese national and Shanghai grants; no conflicts declared.