Role and Expression of 15-Prostaglandin Dehydrogenase in Cartilage tissue.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most typical type of joint disease. OA is distinguished by several characteristics, including synovitis (synovial membrane inflammation), progressive cartilage degradation, subchondral bone remodeling, and discomfort. Prostaglandin E2, which has been implicated in the regulation of inflammation and cartilage biology, is catabolized by 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH). This study is intended to evaluate the expression and function of 15-PGDH in cartilage. The expression of 15-PGDH mRNA and protein in cartilage was investigated using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry. IL-1 was applied to stimulate chondrocytes. Western blotting and real-time RT-PCR were utilized to measure 15-PGDH expression, and 18-Glycyrrhetinic acid was used to examine how 15-PGDH activity affected the expression of significant inflammatory and anabolic genes. 15-PGDH expression was lower in OA tissues compared to its expression in both healthy human and murine cartilage, suggesting that the reduced levels of 15-PGDH may contribute to OA development. Treatment with IL-1β downregulated 15-PGDH expression in human OA chondrocytes. We also showed that treatment with 18 βGA, an inhibitor of 15-PGDH activity, up-regulated the expression of key inflammatory genes, including iNOS, COX-2, and mPGES-1, and down-regulated the expression of the main anabolic genes, type II collagen and aggrecan, in cartilage. Together, these data suggest that 15-PGDH is involved in the pathogenesis of OA. They also suggest that targeting 15-PGDH expression and activity could be a new anti-OA therapy that specifically modulates PGE2 levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]