Astaxanthin may be beneficial in the treatment of osteoarthritis. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Astaxanthin reduces matrix metalloproteinase expression in human chondrocytes.
Int Immunopharmacol. 2014 Mar ;19(1):174-7. Epub 2014 Jan 27. PMID: 24480614
Wei-Ping Chen
Astaxanthin is a red carotenoid pigment which exerts multiple biological activities. However, little is known about the effects of astaxanthin on matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in OA. The present study investigated the effects of astaxanthin on MMPs in human chondrocytes. Human chondrocytes were pretreated with astaxanthin at 1, 10 or 50μM, then, cells were stimulated with IL-1β (10ng/ml) for 24h. MMP-1, MMP-3 and MMP-13 were observed. We found that astaxanthin reduced the expression of MMP-1, MMP-3 and MMP-13 as well as the phosphorylation of two mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) (p38 and ERK1/2) in IL-1β-stimulated chondrocytes. Astaxanthin also blocked the IκB-α degradation. These results suggest that astaxanthin may be beneficial in the treatment of OA.