The therapeutic potential of using probiotics to treat osteoarthritis (OA) has only recently been recognized, with a small number of animal and human studies having been undertaken. The aim of this study was to describe the effect of a probiotic composition (PB) and chondroitin sulfate (CS), administered separately or in combination, on Tlr2, Tlr4, Nfkb1, and Comp gene expression in cartilage and levels of cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, TGF-β1, IGF-1) and COMP, ACAN, CHI3L1, CTSK, and TLR-2 in serum during monoiodoacetate (MIA)-induced OA in rats. Expression of Tlr2, Tlr4, Nfkb1, and Comp in cartilage was analyzed using one-step SYBR Green real-time RT-PCR. The levels of IL-6, IL-8, TGF-β1, IGF-1, COMP, ACAN, CHI3L1, CTSK, and TLR-2 were measured in serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Experimental OA caused an upregulation in Tlr2, Tlr4, Nfkb1, and downregulation of Comp expression in the cartilage. MIA-OA caused a significant increase of TLR-2 soluble form and IL-6, IL-8, TGF-β1, COMP, ACAN, CHI3L1, and CTSK levels in the blood serum; the level of IGF-1, on contrary, decreased. Separate administration of PB and CS raised expression of Comp and reduced Tlr2, Tlr4, and Nfkb1 expressions in cartilage. The levels of the studied markers of cartilage metabolism in serum were decreased or increased (IGF-1). The combined use of PB and CS was more effective than separate application approaching above-mentioned parameters to control. The outcomes of our research prove that multistrain live probiotic composition amplifies the positive action of CS in osteoarthritis attenuation and necessitates further investigation with large-scale randomized controlled trial.

使用益生菌治疗骨关节炎 (OA) 的治疗潜力直到最近才被认识到，并进行了少量的动物和人体研究。本研究的目的是描述单独或联合施用益生菌组合物 (PB) 和硫酸软骨素 (CS) 对软骨中Tlr2、Tlr4、Nfkb1和Comp基因表达以及细胞因子 (IL-在单碘乙酸 (MIA) 诱导的大鼠 OA 过程中，血清中存在 6、IL-8、TGF-β1、IGF-1) 和 COMP、ACAN、CHI3L1、CTSK 和 TLR-2。Tlr2、Tlr4、Nfkb1和Comp的表达使用一步 SYBR Green 实时 RT-PCR 分析软骨中的 采用酶联免疫吸附法测定血清中IL-6、IL-8、TGF-β1、IGF-1、COMP、ACAN、CHI3L1、CTSK、TLR-2的水平。实验性 OA 导致软骨中Tlr2、Tlr4、Nfkb1表达上调，以及Comp表达下调。MIA-OA导致血清中TLR-2可溶性形式以及IL-6、IL-8、TGF-β1、COMP、ACAN、CHI3L1和CTSK水平显着增加；相反，IGF-1 水平下降。单独施用 PB 和 CS 会提高Comp的表达并降低Tlr2、Tlr4和Nfkb1的表达软骨中的表达。所研究的血清中软骨代谢标志物的水平降低或升高（IGF-1）。PB和CS联合使用比单独应用更能接近上述参数进行控制。我们的研究结果证明，多菌株活益生菌组合物可增强 CS 在减弱骨关节炎方面的积极作用，因此需要通过大规模随机对照试验进行进一步研究。