Gubi Zhitong formula alleviates osteoarthritis in vitro and in vivo via regulating BNIP3L-mediated mitophagy

Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by degeneration of articular cartilage, leading to joint pain and dysfunction. Gubi Zhitong formula (GBZTF), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has been used in the clinical treatment of OA for decades, demonstrating definite efficacy. However, its mechanism of action remains unclear, hindering its further application.

The ingredients of GBZTF were analyzed and performed with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). 6 weeks old SD rats were underwent running exercise (25 m/min, 80 min, 0°) to construct OA model with cartilage wear and tear. It was estimated by Micro-CT, Gait Analysis, Histological Stain. RNA-seq technology was performed with OA Rats' cartilage, and primary chondrocytes induced by IL-1β (mimics OA chondrocytes) were utilized to evaluated and investigated the mechanism of how GBZTF protected OA cartilage from being damaged with some functional experiments.

A total of 1006 compounds were identified under positive and negative ion modes by LC-MS. Then, we assessed the function of GBZTF through in vitro and vivo. It was found GBZTF could significantly up-regulate OA rats' limb coordination and weight-bearing capacity, and reduce the surface and sub-chondral bone erosions of OA joints, and protect cartilage from being destroyed by inflammatory factors (iNOS, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF- α, MMP13, ADAMTS5), and promote OA chondrocytes proliferation and increase the S phage of cell cycle. In terms of mechanism, RNA-seq analysis of cartilage tissues revealed 1,778 and 3,824 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in model vs control group and GBZTF vs model group, respectively. The mitophagy pathway was most significantly enriched in these DEGs. Further results of subunits of OA chondrocytes confirmed that GBZTF could alleviate OA-associated inflammation and cartilage damage through modulation BCL2 interacting protein 3-like (BNIP3L)-mediated mitophagy.

The therapeutic effectiveness of GBZTF on OA were first time verified in vivo and vitro through functional experiments and RNA-seq, which provides convincing evidence to support the molecular mechanisms of GBZTF as a promising therapeutic decoction for OA.