Oral Administration of Clostridium butyricum GKB7 Ameliorates Signs of Osteoarthritis in Rats

Sunny Li-Yun Chang; Yen-You Lin; Shan-Chi Liu; You-Shan Tsai; Shih-Wei Lin; Yen-Lien Chen; Chin-Chu Chen; Chih-Yuan Ko; Hsien-Te Chen; Wei-Cheng Chen; Chih-Hsin Tang

doi:10.3390/cells11142169

Oral Administration of Clostridium butyricum GKB7 Ameliorates Signs of Osteoarthritis in Rats

Cells. 2022 Jul 11;11(14):2169. doi: 10.3390/cells11142169.

Authors

Sunny Li-Yun Chang^{1

2}, Yen-You Lin², Shan-Chi Liu³, You-Shan Tsai⁴, Shih-Wei Lin⁴, Yen-Lien Chen⁴, Chin-Chu Chen^{5

6

7}, Chih-Yuan Ko^{1

8}, Hsien-Te Chen^{8

9}, Wei-Cheng Chen^{10

11}, Chih-Hsin Tang^{1

2

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Science, China Medical University, Taichung 404333, Taiwan.
² School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 404333, Taiwan.
³ Department of Medical Education and Research, Beigang Hospital, China Medical University, Yunlin 651012, Taiwan.
⁴ Biotech Research Institute, Grape King Bio Ltd., Taoyuan 325002, Taiwan.
⁵ Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106617, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Nutraceutical Biotechnology, Shih Chien University, Taipei 104036, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Bioscience Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan 320314, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 404333, Taiwan.
⁹ Department of Sports Medicine, College of Health Care, China Medical University, Taichung 404333, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei 25245, Taiwan.
¹¹ Division of Sports Medicine & Surgery, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan.
¹² Chinese Medicine Research Center, China Medical University, Taichung 404333, Taiwan.
¹³ Department of Biotechnology, College of Health Science, Asia University, Taichung 40354, Taiwan.

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative and painful inflammatory joint disease affecting the cartilage, bone, and synovial membranes, without any effective treatment that targets the underlying mechanisms of OA. Our study evaluated the therapeutic effects of a live probiotic strain, Clostridium butyricum GKB7, administered for 6 weeks to rats with knee OA (KOA) induced by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) of the right knee. All rats underwent weekly weight-bearing behavioral testing and body weight measurements. At 6 weeks, all rats were sacrificed, and the right hind knees were collected for micro-computed tomography imaging and histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses. Compared with rats in the ACLT-only group, ACLT rats administered the probiotic exhibited dramatic improvements in pain-related behavior from postoperative week 2, had significantly less osseous and cartilaginous damage at week 6, and significantly lower levels of the inflammatory markers interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in cartilage and synovium sections. C. butyricum GKB7 appeared to slow or even reverse OA progression and is worth investigating as a novel therapeutic for OA.

Keywords: Clostridium butyricum GKB7; anterior cruciate ligament transection; in vivo; interleukin 1 beta; osteoarthritis; tumor necrosis factor alpha.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Administration, Oral
Animals
Cartilage, Articular* / pathology
Clostridium butyricum*
Osteoarthritis, Knee* / pathology
Rats
X-Ray Microtomography

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from China Medical University Hospital (DMR-110-176; DMR-111-165; DMR-111-107) and China Medical University (CMU110-TC-03).