# Pravastatin Reduces Matrix Metalloproteinases Expression and Promotes Cholesterol Efflux in Osteoarthritis Chondrocytes

Authors: Yunpeng Wu; Xuezhou Li; Yongyuan Guo; Yuhua Jia; Pengfei Sun
Journal: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
 (2022)

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## Abstract

Background. Chondrocyte metabolic disorder plays an important role in the development of osteoarthritis (OA). The use of statins in the treatment of OA has also been widely studied, but the mechanism is still confusing. The present study aims to investigate the effects of statin on osteoarthritis chondrocytes and its underlying mechanism. Major findings. An untargeted metabolomics study revealed that the treatment of statins significantly changed the metabolites of articular cartilage tissues collected from female osteoarthritis patients, and might be involved in the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway. In vitro study showed that 5–50 μmol/L of pravastatin exerts no cytotoxicity on human chondrocytes. Besides, 50 μmol/L of pravastatin caused a significant decrease in the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MPP-13, and intracellular cholesterol in interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-induced human chondrocytes. Furthermore, at both mRNA and protein levels, the expression of the proteins related to the cholesterol efflux pathway (liver X receptor and cholesterol efflux regulatory protein) were significantly up-regulated by 50 μmol/L of pravastatin in IL-1β-induced human chondrocytes. Conclusion. Pravastatin can reduce the expression of MMPs in IL-1β-induced human chondrocytes and protect the chondrocyte matrix. The mechanism may be related to promoting the expression of proteins related to the cholesterol efflux pathway and reducing the level of cellular cholesterol.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic joint disease characterized by degeneration of articular cartilage, leading to progressive loss of joint function. It is the primary cause of disability and reduced quality of life in modern society, as well as the most common cause of joint pain in middle-aged and elderly people. Nowadays, OA affects 7% of the global population, more than 500 million people worldwide [1]. Generally, the main pathological changes of OA are the apoptosis of articular chondrocytes and progressive degradation of the chondrocyte extracellular matrix. The matrix enzymatic degradation and the inhibition of new matrix synthesis lead to the destruction of cartilage [2]. Besides, the apoptosis of chondrocytes plays an important role in the degradation of OA articular cartilage [3]. However, in recent years, a new academic view shows that chondrocyte metabolic disorder plays an important role in the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis, and epidemiological investigation also shows that osteoarthritis is closely associated with a variety of metabolic diseases (such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and hypertension).Statins, first discovered in 1976, have been widely used in the treatment of hyperlipidemia and hypercholesterolemia. The protective effect of statins on articular cartilage in osteoarthritis has received increasing attention from orthopedic surgeons [4]. Statins have the functions of anti-inflammatory, inhibiting chondrocyte aging and degeneration, and preventing extracellular matrix degradation [5, 6]. Simvastatin significantly reduced the production of inflammatory factors such as tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 in lipopolysaccharide-induced porcine articular chondrocytes. Statins could significantly inhibit the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase. The expression of the type II collagen (Col2A1) gene in chondrocytes in simvastatin groups was increased by about 1 time compared with that in control groups [7]. Using the cartilage degeneration model, Mooney et al. [8] found that simvastatin and mevastatin significantly inhibited collagen degradation induced by IL-1Β+ atorvastatin M in bovine nasal cartilage, and the activities of collagenase (MMP-1) and gelatinase (MMP-2) decreased significantly. Decreased MMPs activity is an important manifestation of the protection of chondrocytes by statins [9]. However, most studies on the protection of articular cartilage by statins are still at the phenomenon level, and the specific mechanism of the protection of articular cartilage by statins is still unknown. At present, it is believed that the clinical efficacy of statins is based on their effect on lowering serum cholesterol, but there is still insufficient research on the effect of statins on local tissue cells of articular cartilage. Based on the metabonomics analysis of clinical samples, this paper proposed that statins can promote cholesterol efflux in articular chondrocytes, reduce intracellular cholesterol levels, inhibit MMP’s expression, and play a protective role in the development of OA.


## 2. Materials and Methods

### 2.1. Clinical Specimen Detection

#### 2.1.1. Clinical Inclusion Criteria

Female patients of the same age with severe knee osteoarthritis were admitted to total knee replacement surgery with or without a history of statin use. Inclusion criteria for the statin group were as follows: female patients, aged 60–69 years, with diabetes and rheumatoid diseases excluded, and a recent history of regular statin use for more than 2 weeks. Articular cartilage samples were collected and sent for untargeted metabolomics. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University.


#### 2.1.2. Sample Processing

Grind bone tissue, take 100 mg, add 400ul mixture (methanol: acetonitrile = 1 : 1), swirl and shake the mixture for 3 min, stand at −20°C for 1 hour, centrifuge at 13000 rpm for 15 min, take 100ul supernatant, pending inspection.Chromatographic method. Chromatographic column: Agilent ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C18, 2.1 × 100 mm, 3.5um.The column temperature was 35°C, sample volume was 3ul, the flow rate was 0.5 mL/min, mobile phase A: H2O (0.1% formic acid), and mobile phase B: acetonitrile (0.1% formic acid); gradient elution conditions are presented in Table 1.Table 1
Gradient elution conditions.
Time (min)Mobile phase A (%)Mobile phase B (%)0982198213109016109016.198220StopMass spectrometry method. Electrospray ionization (ESI), positive and negative ion ionization mode. The source temperature is 120°C, the desolvation temperature is 500°C, the desolvation nitrogen flow is 600 L/h and the cone gas flow is 50 L/h. The ionization voltage of the positive and negative ion mode capillary is 3.0 kV and 4.5 kV, the sampling cone voltage is 27 eV, the extraction cone is 4 eV, and the scanning range of the quadrupole is m/Z 50–1500.


### 2.2. Cell Test

#### 2.2.1. Main Materials

Human chondrocytes, ScienCell, USA; Pravastatin, Sigma Corporation, USA; Cholesterol Test Kit, Sigma Corporation, USA; CCK-8 (Cell Counting Kit-8) Kit, Dongren Chemical Technology (Shanghai) Corporation, China; Reverse transcription kit, Dalian Bao Bioengineering Corporation, China; HiBindTM PCR Product Recovery Kit, Omega Bio-Tek, USA; SYBR Green Real-time PCR Mastermix-Plus, Takara, Japan; and primer synthesis, Shanghai Sangong Bioengineering Technology Corporation, China.


#### 2.2.2. Pravastatin Cytotoxicity Test

The primary cells were cultured to the third generation, the concentration of suspension cells was adjusted, and the suspension cells were inoculated into 96-well plates at a density of 5×104 cells/ml, 100 μl per well, and blank control wells were set up. Pravastatin was administered at different concentrations for 48 h, then the medium was changed and 10 μl CCK-8 was added to each well. The medium was placed in an incubator at 37 °C for incubation for 1 h. The 96-well plate was placed in a microplate reader, and the optical density (OD) value was measured at 450 nm.


#### 2.2.3. Cell Group and Drug Treatment

The primary cells were cultured to the third generation, and 1×105 cells/ml were inoculated in a 6- well plate, incubated in a constant temperature incubator at 37°C with a CO2 concentration of 5%. The medium was changed every other day until the adherent area of chondrocytes was about 60%. After 12 h of serum-free medium synchronization, 2% serum medium was administered with different concentrations of pravastatin (5, 10, 50 μmol/L) and IL-1β (50 μmol/L) for 48h, respectively.


#### 2.2.4. Cholesterol Content in Human Chondrocytes

After drug administration, the cells were fully washed and counted. The cells were broken with 1% Triton X-100 chloroform solution and centrifuged at 13,000 ×g for 10 min to remove insoluble substances. The organic phase of the centrifuge tube was placed in a drying oven at 50°C.For air drying for 20 minutes and vacuum drying for 30 minutes to remove the chloroform. The test buffer was used to suspend dried lipids, and the cell cholesterol level was measured according to the kit instructions.


#### 2.2.5. mRNA Expression of Functional Proteins and Cholesterol Efflux-Related Protein of Chondrocytes

After drug administration, cells were fully washed and total RNA was extracted using TRIzol reagent according to kit instructions. Primer design software Primer Premier 5.0 (Premier Biosoft International) was used to design primers, and the design results were input into the BLAST database for homology comparison, finally obtaining specific Primer sequences. The amplification of cDNA was performed using QuantiTect PCR Kits with a 7500 Real-Time PCR System. Primer sequences and real-time PCR reaction conditions were shown in Table2. The reaction system was as follows: 95°C 30s; 95°C 5s, annealing temperature 30s, 72°C 30s, and 40 cycles. The PCR reaction product was detected as a single target band by agarose gel electrophoresis. After confirming that the real-time quantitative reaction was correct and each sample had no abnormality, the CT value was calculated using the standard curve to obtain the expression level of genes. The present study considered GAPDH an internal reference gene to quantitate mRNA expression based on the 2−ΔΔCt method [10].Table 2
Real-time quantitative PCR primer sequences and annealing temperature.
GeneForward primerReverse primerAt (°C)GAPDHGGC​TCT​CTG​CTC​CTC​CCT​GTGTA​ACC​AGG​CGT​CCG​ATA​CGG​C63MMP-1TTTGATGGACCTCAATATCATTAGTGCTCCTACA52MMP-3GATTAATGGAGATGCAGCATTGGCTGAGTG54MMP-13GAA​CAC​AGA​TAA​AGG​GAA​ATGCA​GGG​AAG​GGG​CTA​ATG​AA50PPARγCCT​CCC​TGA​TGA​ATA​AAG​ATG​GCTGGGCGGTCTCCACTGA60LXRGAA​CGA​GGC​TGC​TTC​GTG​ACGGA​GAA​CCA​TTC​CCA​GGC​A54ABCA1TGG​ACA​ATG​AAA​CCT​TCT​CTG​GATTAG​CCT​TGC​AAA​AAC​ACC​TTC​TG58


#### 2.2.6. Western Blot

After quantitation of the concentration of total protein extracted from cells with different treatments, an equal amount of protein was processed for separation by 10% SDS-PAGE and then transferred to PVDF membranes. Next, the membranes were blocked with skimmed milk for 2 h and subsequently incubated with primary antibodies overnight, followed by incubation with an HRP-conjugated secondary antibody for 1 h. Finally, the bands were developed using an enhanced chemiluminescence detection kit (Millipore, MA, USA).


#### 2.2.7. Statistical Analysis

Statistical analysis was conducted using Prism (Graph Pad Software Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA). The Student’st-test was applied for comparisons between the two groups and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.


## 2.1. Clinical Specimen Detection

### 2.1.1. Clinical Inclusion Criteria

Female patients of the same age with severe knee osteoarthritis were admitted to total knee replacement surgery with or without a history of statin use. Inclusion criteria for the statin group were as follows: female patients, aged 60–69 years, with diabetes and rheumatoid diseases excluded, and a recent history of regular statin use for more than 2 weeks. Articular cartilage samples were collected and sent for untargeted metabolomics. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University.


### 2.1.2. Sample Processing

Grind bone tissue, take 100 mg, add 400ul mixture (methanol: acetonitrile = 1 : 1), swirl and shake the mixture for 3 min, stand at −20°C for 1 hour, centrifuge at 13000 rpm for 15 min, take 100ul supernatant, pending inspection.Chromatographic method. Chromatographic column: Agilent ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C18, 2.1 × 100 mm, 3.5um.The column temperature was 35°C, sample volume was 3ul, the flow rate was 0.5 mL/min, mobile phase A: H2O (0.1% formic acid), and mobile phase B: acetonitrile (0.1% formic acid); gradient elution conditions are presented in Table 1.Table 1
Gradient elution conditions.
Time (min)Mobile phase A (%)Mobile phase B (%)0982198213109016109016.198220StopMass spectrometry method. Electrospray ionization (ESI), positive and negative ion ionization mode. The source temperature is 120°C, the desolvation temperature is 500°C, the desolvation nitrogen flow is 600 L/h and the cone gas flow is 50 L/h. The ionization voltage of the positive and negative ion mode capillary is 3.0 kV and 4.5 kV, the sampling cone voltage is 27 eV, the extraction cone is 4 eV, and the scanning range of the quadrupole is m/Z 50–1500.


## 2.1.1. Clinical Inclusion Criteria

Female patients of the same age with severe knee osteoarthritis were admitted to total knee replacement surgery with or without a history of statin use. Inclusion criteria for the statin group were as follows: female patients, aged 60–69 years, with diabetes and rheumatoid diseases excluded, and a recent history of regular statin use for more than 2 weeks. Articular cartilage samples were collected and sent for untargeted metabolomics. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University.


## 2.1.2. Sample Processing

Grind bone tissue, take 100 mg, add 400ul mixture (methanol: acetonitrile = 1 : 1), swirl and shake the mixture for 3 min, stand at −20°C for 1 hour, centrifuge at 13000 rpm for 15 min, take 100ul supernatant, pending inspection.Chromatographic method. Chromatographic column: Agilent ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C18, 2.1 × 100 mm, 3.5um.The column temperature was 35°C, sample volume was 3ul, the flow rate was 0.5 mL/min, mobile phase A: H2O (0.1% formic acid), and mobile phase B: acetonitrile (0.1% formic acid); gradient elution conditions are presented in Table 1.Table 1
Gradient elution conditions.
Time (min)Mobile phase A (%)Mobile phase B (%)0982198213109016109016.198220StopMass spectrometry method. Electrospray ionization (ESI), positive and negative ion ionization mode. The source temperature is 120°C, the desolvation temperature is 500°C, the desolvation nitrogen flow is 600 L/h and the cone gas flow is 50 L/h. The ionization voltage of the positive and negative ion mode capillary is 3.0 kV and 4.5 kV, the sampling cone voltage is 27 eV, the extraction cone is 4 eV, and the scanning range of the quadrupole is m/Z 50–1500.


## 2.2. Cell Test

### 2.2.1. Main Materials

Human chondrocytes, ScienCell, USA; Pravastatin, Sigma Corporation, USA; Cholesterol Test Kit, Sigma Corporation, USA; CCK-8 (Cell Counting Kit-8) Kit, Dongren Chemical Technology (Shanghai) Corporation, China; Reverse transcription kit, Dalian Bao Bioengineering Corporation, China; HiBindTM PCR Product Recovery Kit, Omega Bio-Tek, USA; SYBR Green Real-time PCR Mastermix-Plus, Takara, Japan; and primer synthesis, Shanghai Sangong Bioengineering Technology Corporation, China.


### 2.2.2. Pravastatin Cytotoxicity Test

The primary cells were cultured to the third generation, the concentration of suspension cells was adjusted, and the suspension cells were inoculated into 96-well plates at a density of 5×104 cells/ml, 100 μl per well, and blank control wells were set up. Pravastatin was administered at different concentrations for 48 h, then the medium was changed and 10 μl CCK-8 was added to each well. The medium was placed in an incubator at 37 °C for incubation for 1 h. The 96-well plate was placed in a microplate reader, and the optical density (OD) value was measured at 450 nm.


### 2.2.3. Cell Group and Drug Treatment

The primary cells were cultured to the third generation, and 1×105 cells/ml were inoculated in a 6- well plate, incubated in a constant temperature incubator at 37°C with a CO2 concentration of 5%. The medium was changed every other day until the adherent area of chondrocytes was about 60%. After 12 h of serum-free medium synchronization, 2% serum medium was administered with different concentrations of pravastatin (5, 10, 50 μmol/L) and IL-1β (50 μmol/L) for 48h, respectively.


### 2.2.4. Cholesterol Content in Human Chondrocytes

After drug administration, the cells were fully washed and counted. The cells were broken with 1% Triton X-100 chloroform solution and centrifuged at 13,000 ×g for 10 min to remove insoluble substances. The organic phase of the centrifuge tube was placed in a drying oven at 50°C.For air drying for 20 minutes and vacuum drying for 30 minutes to remove the chloroform. The test buffer was used to suspend dried lipids, and the cell cholesterol level was measured according to the kit instructions.


### 2.2.5. mRNA Expression of Functional Proteins and Cholesterol Efflux-Related Protein of Chondrocytes

After drug administration, cells were fully washed and total RNA was extracted using TRIzol reagent according to kit instructions. Primer design software Primer Premier 5.0 (Premier Biosoft International) was used to design primers, and the design results were input into the BLAST database for homology comparison, finally obtaining specific Primer sequences. The amplification of cDNA was performed using QuantiTect PCR Kits with a 7500 Real-Time PCR System. Primer sequences and real-time PCR reaction conditions were shown in Table2. The reaction system was as follows: 95°C 30s; 95°C 5s, annealing temperature 30s, 72°C 30s, and 40 cycles. The PCR reaction product was detected as a single target band by agarose gel electrophoresis. After confirming that the real-time quantitative reaction was correct and each sample had no abnormality, the CT value was calculated using the standard curve to obtain the expression level of genes. The present study considered GAPDH an internal reference gene to quantitate mRNA expression based on the 2−ΔΔCt method [10].Table 2
Real-time quantitative PCR primer sequences and annealing temperature.
GeneForward primerReverse primerAt (°C)GAPDHGGC​TCT​CTG​CTC​CTC​CCT​GTGTA​ACC​AGG​CGT​CCG​ATA​CGG​C63MMP-1TTTGATGGACCTCAATATCATTAGTGCTCCTACA52MMP-3GATTAATGGAGATGCAGCATTGGCTGAGTG54MMP-13GAA​CAC​AGA​TAA​AGG​GAA​ATGCA​GGG​AAG​GGG​CTA​ATG​AA50PPARγCCT​CCC​TGA​TGA​ATA​AAG​ATG​GCTGGGCGGTCTCCACTGA60LXRGAA​CGA​GGC​TGC​TTC​GTG​ACGGA​GAA​CCA​TTC​CCA​GGC​A54ABCA1TGG​ACA​ATG​AAA​CCT​TCT​CTG​GATTAG​CCT​TGC​AAA​AAC​ACC​TTC​TG58


### 2.2.6. Western Blot

After quantitation of the concentration of total protein extracted from cells with different treatments, an equal amount of protein was processed for separation by 10% SDS-PAGE and then transferred to PVDF membranes. Next, the membranes were blocked with skimmed milk for 2 h and subsequently incubated with primary antibodies overnight, followed by incubation with an HRP-conjugated secondary antibody for 1 h. Finally, the bands were developed using an enhanced chemiluminescence detection kit (Millipore, MA, USA).


### 2.2.7. Statistical Analysis

Statistical analysis was conducted using Prism (Graph Pad Software Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA). The Student’st-test was applied for comparisons between the two groups and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.


## 2.2.1. Main Materials

Human chondrocytes, ScienCell, USA; Pravastatin, Sigma Corporation, USA; Cholesterol Test Kit, Sigma Corporation, USA; CCK-8 (Cell Counting Kit-8) Kit, Dongren Chemical Technology (Shanghai) Corporation, China; Reverse transcription kit, Dalian Bao Bioengineering Corporation, China; HiBindTM PCR Product Recovery Kit, Omega Bio-Tek, USA; SYBR Green Real-time PCR Mastermix-Plus, Takara, Japan; and primer synthesis, Shanghai Sangong Bioengineering Technology Corporation, China.


## 2.2.2. Pravastatin Cytotoxicity Test

The primary cells were cultured to the third generation, the concentration of suspension cells was adjusted, and the suspension cells were inoculated into 96-well plates at a density of 5×104 cells/ml, 100 μl per well, and blank control wells were set up. Pravastatin was administered at different concentrations for 48 h, then the medium was changed and 10 μl CCK-8 was added to each well. The medium was placed in an incubator at 37 °C for incubation for 1 h. The 96-well plate was placed in a microplate reader, and the optical density (OD) value was measured at 450 nm.


## 2.2.3. Cell Group and Drug Treatment

The primary cells were cultured to the third generation, and 1×105 cells/ml were inoculated in a 6- well plate, incubated in a constant temperature incubator at 37°C with a CO2 concentration of 5%. The medium was changed every other day until the adherent area of chondrocytes was about 60%. After 12 h of serum-free medium synchronization, 2% serum medium was administered with different concentrations of pravastatin (5, 10, 50 μmol/L) and IL-1β (50 μmol/L) for 48h, respectively.


## 2.2.4. Cholesterol Content in Human Chondrocytes

After drug administration, the cells were fully washed and counted. The cells were broken with 1% Triton X-100 chloroform solution and centrifuged at 13,000 ×g for 10 min to remove insoluble substances. The organic phase of the centrifuge tube was placed in a drying oven at 50°C.For air drying for 20 minutes and vacuum drying for 30 minutes to remove the chloroform. The test buffer was used to suspend dried lipids, and the cell cholesterol level was measured according to the kit instructions.


## 2.2.5. mRNA Expression of Functional Proteins and Cholesterol Efflux-Related Protein of Chondrocytes

After drug administration, cells were fully washed and total RNA was extracted using TRIzol reagent according to kit instructions. Primer design software Primer Premier 5.0 (Premier Biosoft International) was used to design primers, and the design results were input into the BLAST database for homology comparison, finally obtaining specific Primer sequences. The amplification of cDNA was performed using QuantiTect PCR Kits with a 7500 Real-Time PCR System. Primer sequences and real-time PCR reaction conditions were shown in Table2. The reaction system was as follows: 95°C 30s; 95°C 5s, annealing temperature 30s, 72°C 30s, and 40 cycles. The PCR reaction product was detected as a single target band by agarose gel electrophoresis. After confirming that the real-time quantitative reaction was correct and each sample had no abnormality, the CT value was calculated using the standard curve to obtain the expression level of genes. The present study considered GAPDH an internal reference gene to quantitate mRNA expression based on the 2−ΔΔCt method [10].Table 2
Real-time quantitative PCR primer sequences and annealing temperature.
GeneForward primerReverse primerAt (°C)GAPDHGGC​TCT​CTG​CTC​CTC​CCT​GTGTA​ACC​AGG​CGT​CCG​ATA​CGG​C63MMP-1TTTGATGGACCTCAATATCATTAGTGCTCCTACA52MMP-3GATTAATGGAGATGCAGCATTGGCTGAGTG54MMP-13GAA​CAC​AGA​TAA​AGG​GAA​ATGCA​GGG​AAG​GGG​CTA​ATG​AA50PPARγCCT​CCC​TGA​TGA​ATA​AAG​ATG​GCTGGGCGGTCTCCACTGA60LXRGAA​CGA​GGC​TGC​TTC​GTG​ACGGA​GAA​CCA​TTC​CCA​GGC​A54ABCA1TGG​ACA​ATG​AAA​CCT​TCT​CTG​GATTAG​CCT​TGC​AAA​AAC​ACC​TTC​TG58


## 2.2.6. Western Blot

After quantitation of the concentration of total protein extracted from cells with different treatments, an equal amount of protein was processed for separation by 10% SDS-PAGE and then transferred to PVDF membranes. Next, the membranes were blocked with skimmed milk for 2 h and subsequently incubated with primary antibodies overnight, followed by incubation with an HRP-conjugated secondary antibody for 1 h. Finally, the bands were developed using an enhanced chemiluminescence detection kit (Millipore, MA, USA).


## 2.2.7. Statistical Analysis

Statistical analysis was conducted using Prism (Graph Pad Software Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA). The Student’st-test was applied for comparisons between the two groups and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.


## 3. Results

### 3.1. Effects of Statins on the Metabolomics of Human Articular Cartilage

In order to explore the effects of statins on the metabolism of articular cartilage cells, the articular cartilage tissues of the statins group and the control group were compared, and significant differences were found in the metabonomics of the two groups, which could clearly distinguish the statins group from the control group (Figures1 and 2), so as to identify the different metabolites involved in the two groups. Pathway analysis and identified significantly differentiated metabolites showed that there were significant differences in the main pathways that statins affected the metabolism of knee chondrocytes, including glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingomyelin metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, vitamin B6 metabolism (Table 3).Figure 1
Untargeted metabolomics testing of cartilage after joint replacement in osteoarthritis patients in the statin group and the control group, partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) of untargeted metabolism in two dimensions (a) and three dimensions (b).
(a)(b)Figure 2
(a) Distribution of differential multiples (FC) of metabolites in the untargeted metabolome. FC > 2 is highlighted in pink. (b) The volcano map shows the differential metabolites between the statin and control groups. (c) Heat maps of the median values of the top 100 differential metabolites selected (VIP > 1,P<0.05).
(a)(b)(c)Table 3
Differential metabolite pathway analysis.
PathwayTotalHitsRaw pImpactGlycerophospholipid metabolism3630.0100020.21631Sphingolipid metabolism2120.0286880.03854Linoleic acid metabolism510.0629520Vitamin B6 metabolism910.110580.4902Alpha-linolenic acid metabolism1310.155910Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor biosynthesis1410.166890.00399Porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism3010.32520.02799Glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism3310.35150.05034Arachidonic acid metabolism3610.376830Primary bile acid biosynthesis4610.454640.00641


### 3.2. Cytotoxic Effects of Pravastatin on Human Chondrocytes

Chondrocytes were treated with pravastatin at different concentrations for 48 h. Cell proliferation was detected by the CCK-8 method. The result showed (Figure3) that there was no significant difference in OD values of all groups, indicating that pravastatin had no cytotoxicity to human chondrocytes at the concentration of pravastatin administration in this experiment.Figure 3
Toxicity of pravastatin at different concentrations on human chondrocytes.


### 3.3. Pravastatin Inhibited IL-1β-Induced MMPs Expression in Human Chondrocytes

Human chondrocytes stimulated by IL-1β were treated with pravastatin at different concentrations for 48 h. The expression of matrix metalloproteinases in human chondrocytes was detected by real-time quantitative PCR. The results showed that the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-13 decreased in a dose-dependent manner compared with the IL-1β administration group (Figure 4). The decrease of expression in the high concentration group was statistically significant. There was no significant difference in MMP-3 expression, but there was still a downward trend.Figure 4
Pravastatin inhibited IL-1β-induced MMPs expression in human chondrocytes. Note: n = 10, compared with the IL-1β group (50 μmol/L IL-1β+0 μmol/L pravastatin), ∗P<0.05; compared with the control group (0 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), #P<0.05.


### 3.4. Pravastatin Reduced Intracellular Cholesterol in Chondrocytes Treated with IL-1β

The content of cholesterol in human chondrocytes was determined after the combined treatment of pravastatin at different concentrations and IL-1β for 48 h. The result showed (Figure 5) that pravastatin dose-dependently reduced intracellular cholesterol in chondrocytes, with a statistically significant difference compared with the IL-1β-treated control group.Figure 5
Pravastatin reduced intracellular cholesterol in chondrocytes treated with IL-1β Note: n = 10, compared with the IL-1β group (50 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), ∗P<0.05.


### 3.5. Pravastatin Promoted the mRNA Expression of Proteins Related to the Cholesterol Efflux Pathway in Chondrocytes

The expression of cholesterol efflux-related genes in human chondrocytes was detected by real-time quantitative PCR for 48 h after combined administration of pravastatin at different concentrations and IL-1β. The results showed that both the mRNA and protein expression of LXR and ABCA1 increased in a dose-dependent manner after the treatment of pravastatin (Figures 6 and 7), and the expression increase in the high concentration groups was statistically significant. Compared with the IL-1β group, the expression of PPARγ in the treatment group was only affected at the protein level (Figures 6 and 7).Figure 6
Pravastatin promoted the mRNA expression of proteins related to the cholesterol efflux pathway in chondrocytes. Note:n = 10, compared with the IL-1β group (50 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), ∗P<0.05.Figure 7
Pravastatin promoted the protein expression of proteins related to the cholesterol efflux pathway in chondrocytes. Note:n = 10, compared with the IL-1β group (50 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), ∗P<0.05; compared with the control group (0 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), #P<0.05.


## 3.1. Effects of Statins on the Metabolomics of Human Articular Cartilage

In order to explore the effects of statins on the metabolism of articular cartilage cells, the articular cartilage tissues of the statins group and the control group were compared, and significant differences were found in the metabonomics of the two groups, which could clearly distinguish the statins group from the control group (Figures1 and 2), so as to identify the different metabolites involved in the two groups. Pathway analysis and identified significantly differentiated metabolites showed that there were significant differences in the main pathways that statins affected the metabolism of knee chondrocytes, including glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingomyelin metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, vitamin B6 metabolism (Table 3).Figure 1
Untargeted metabolomics testing of cartilage after joint replacement in osteoarthritis patients in the statin group and the control group, partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) of untargeted metabolism in two dimensions (a) and three dimensions (b).
(a)(b)Figure 2
(a) Distribution of differential multiples (FC) of metabolites in the untargeted metabolome. FC > 2 is highlighted in pink. (b) The volcano map shows the differential metabolites between the statin and control groups. (c) Heat maps of the median values of the top 100 differential metabolites selected (VIP > 1,P<0.05).
(a)(b)(c)Table 3
Differential metabolite pathway analysis.
PathwayTotalHitsRaw pImpactGlycerophospholipid metabolism3630.0100020.21631Sphingolipid metabolism2120.0286880.03854Linoleic acid metabolism510.0629520Vitamin B6 metabolism910.110580.4902Alpha-linolenic acid metabolism1310.155910Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor biosynthesis1410.166890.00399Porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism3010.32520.02799Glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism3310.35150.05034Arachidonic acid metabolism3610.376830Primary bile acid biosynthesis4610.454640.00641


## 3.2. Cytotoxic Effects of Pravastatin on Human Chondrocytes

Chondrocytes were treated with pravastatin at different concentrations for 48 h. Cell proliferation was detected by the CCK-8 method. The result showed (Figure3) that there was no significant difference in OD values of all groups, indicating that pravastatin had no cytotoxicity to human chondrocytes at the concentration of pravastatin administration in this experiment.Figure 3
Toxicity of pravastatin at different concentrations on human chondrocytes.


## 3.3. Pravastatin Inhibited IL-1β-Induced MMPs Expression in Human Chondrocytes

Human chondrocytes stimulated by IL-1β were treated with pravastatin at different concentrations for 48 h. The expression of matrix metalloproteinases in human chondrocytes was detected by real-time quantitative PCR. The results showed that the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-13 decreased in a dose-dependent manner compared with the IL-1β administration group (Figure 4). The decrease of expression in the high concentration group was statistically significant. There was no significant difference in MMP-3 expression, but there was still a downward trend.Figure 4
Pravastatin inhibited IL-1β-induced MMPs expression in human chondrocytes. Note: n = 10, compared with the IL-1β group (50 μmol/L IL-1β+0 μmol/L pravastatin), ∗P<0.05; compared with the control group (0 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), #P<0.05.


## 3.4. Pravastatin Reduced Intracellular Cholesterol in Chondrocytes Treated with IL-1β

The content of cholesterol in human chondrocytes was determined after the combined treatment of pravastatin at different concentrations and IL-1β for 48 h. The result showed (Figure 5) that pravastatin dose-dependently reduced intracellular cholesterol in chondrocytes, with a statistically significant difference compared with the IL-1β-treated control group.Figure 5
Pravastatin reduced intracellular cholesterol in chondrocytes treated with IL-1β Note: n = 10, compared with the IL-1β group (50 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), ∗P<0.05.


## 3.5. Pravastatin Promoted the mRNA Expression of Proteins Related to the Cholesterol Efflux Pathway in Chondrocytes

The expression of cholesterol efflux-related genes in human chondrocytes was detected by real-time quantitative PCR for 48 h after combined administration of pravastatin at different concentrations and IL-1β. The results showed that both the mRNA and protein expression of LXR and ABCA1 increased in a dose-dependent manner after the treatment of pravastatin (Figures 6 and 7), and the expression increase in the high concentration groups was statistically significant. Compared with the IL-1β group, the expression of PPARγ in the treatment group was only affected at the protein level (Figures 6 and 7).Figure 6
Pravastatin promoted the mRNA expression of proteins related to the cholesterol efflux pathway in chondrocytes. Note:n = 10, compared with the IL-1β group (50 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), ∗P<0.05.Figure 7
Pravastatin promoted the protein expression of proteins related to the cholesterol efflux pathway in chondrocytes. Note:n = 10, compared with the IL-1β group (50 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), ∗P<0.05; compared with the control group (0 μmol/L IL-1β + 0 μmol/L pravastatin), #P<0.05.


## 4. Discussion

In order to study whether statins reduce the incidence and progression rate of OA, a large number of group prospective studies have been carried out. Clockaerts et al. [11] showed that taking statins was not associated with the overall progression of hip OA, but taking statins could reduce the overall rate of progression of knee OA by more than 50%. Riddle et al. [12] showed that taking statins did not improve knee pain or functional and structural progression in patients with knee OA. The follow-up cohort study of Kadam et al. [13] pointed out that patients who took a high therapeutic dose of statins for more than 2 years had a significantly lower incidence of OA than those who did not take statins. Valdes et al. [14] showed that taking statins significantly reduced the incidence of systemic osteoarthritis, especially generalized nodular osteoarthritis.To explore the effects of statins on articular chondrocyte metabolism, we compared the clinical articular cartilage of the statin group with the control group and found significant differences in the metabolomics between the two groups. Pathway analysis and identified significantly differentiated metabolites showed that there were significant differences in glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingomyelin metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, vitamin B6 metabolism, and other pathways, all of which are closely related to tissue cell cholesterol metabolism, especially cholesterol efflux [15, 16]. Therefore, we further designed the cell tests of the direct effects of statins on osteoarthritis chondrocytes to determine whether statins affect chondrocyte cholesterol levels and the expression of factors related to cholesterol efflux.Statins have dihydroxyheptanoic acid structure, either lactone ring or open ring hydroxyl acid, but lactone ring types must be transformed into corresponding open ring hydroxyl acid form in vivo to play pharmacological effects, so pravastatin having direct pharmacological activity was used in this study. Pravastatin could protect osteoarthritis chondrocytes by inhibiting autophagy and reducing inflammation and matrix degradation [17, 18]. The results showed that pravastatin could significantly reduce the expression of matrix metalloproteinases MMP-1 and MMP-13 in IL-1β-mediated human OA model chondrocytes, which was consistent with the results of relevant studies. MMP-1 and MMP-13 are the main components of cartilage matrix decomposition in the pathological development of osteoarthritis. Therefore, pravastatin has a certain protective effect on matrix decomposition of OA cartilage, which may delay the progression of OA and alleviate the symptoms of the disease.The specific mechanism of pravastatin protecting OA chondrocytes is still unclear, and the results of our experiment show that pravastatin can reduce the cholesterol content in OA chondrocytes. Studies on the relationship between osteoarthritis of non-weight-bearing joints and atherosclerosis have shown that there is a linear correlation between hand OA and the degree of atherosclerosis in elderly women, suggesting that this relationship is independent of the traditional hypothesis that overuse is the direct pathogenesis of OA along with obesity [19]. Lipid metabolism, especially cholesterol metabolism, has attracted more attention. Osteoarthritis and atherosclerosis share similar pathogenesis and similar pathological basis [20]. Therefore, pravastatin reduces the cholesterol content of OA chondrocytes and improves the physiological state of articular cartilage, which may be the deep mechanism of pravastatin’s effect on OA treatment.Cholesterol efflux is the only way the peripheral tissue gets rid of excrescent cholesterol. Intracellular cholesterol is transported to apoA1 (apolipoproteinA1) through the transmembrane protein ABCA1(ATP-binding cassette transporter A1). Pro-β-HDL formed by cholesterol and apoA1, changes to spherical mature HDL with the action of lecithin cholesterol lipoyltransferase, and then HDL is transferred to the liver by blood transport. The cholesterol efflux process is regulated by liver X receptor (LXR) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARγ) and other factors [21]. PPARγ, a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, is an upstream regulatory factor of LXR, which regulates the transcriptional activity of the target gene by binding to the PPAR response element (PPARE). PPARγ/LXRα signaling pathway has been shown to stimulate the expression of ABCA1. Statins can not only regulate cholesterol synthesis in the liver but also significantly regulate cholesterol efflux in peripheral tissue cells. Argmann CA et al. [22] pointed out that atorvastatin and simvastatin can promote the activation of PPARγ in macrophages, and then promote the expression of LXR/ABCA1. Lee et al. [23] showed that rosuvastatin can activate the expression of PPARα/γ and ABCA1 in bile duct epithelial cells. Simvastatin can promote the expression of LXR, ABCA1, and apoA1 in monocytes of diabetic patients [24]. Collectively, the current study, for the first time, investigated the effect of statins treatment on the metabolites of OA articular cartilage tissues and found that pravastatin significantly increased the mRNA expressions of PPARγ, LXR, and ABCA1 in IL-1β-induced OA chondrocytes, and promoted the outflow of intracellular cholesterol. However, there are some limitations in this study. This research content is mainly based on in vitro cell experiments, and it is impossible to know whether in vivo consistent results are obtained with our present findings. Hence, an in vivo experiment on animals is required to conduct for further validation. Besides, the mechanism exploration in this study is preliminary nature. The specific molecular mechanism needs to be elucidated in future studies.This study confirmed that pravastatin can reduce the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-13 in IL-1β-induced human chondrocytes and protect the chondrocyte matrix. The mechanism may be related to promoting the expression of proteins related to the cholesterol efflux pathway and reducing the level of cellular cholesterol. Pravastatin can reduce the cholesterol concentration in the chondrocyte, improve the metabolic status, and may alleviate the symptoms of OA, which has possible clinical significance and application prospects.



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*Source: 9666963-2022-10-13.xml*