Gold (Au) compounds were used as an effective therapeutic agent for various inflammatory diseases; however, the use of Au compounds becomes limited because of its association with several side effects. Hence, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were developed as a new option for the medical proposes. However, the safety evaluation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in osteoarthritis (OA) treatment remains vague. This study aimed to biosynthesize, characterize and evaluate the therapeutic effects of biosynthesized AuNPs and/or Diacerein^® (DIA) in experimental OA. OA was induced by a single injection of monosodium iodoacetate (3 mg/joint) in the intra-articular knee of female rats. Normal rats (N-rats) and OA-rats were treated orally for 5 weeks as follow: untreated N-rats; untreated OA-rats; N-rats received DIA (50 mg/kg b.w); N-rats received AuNPs (30 μg/kg b.w.); N-rats received AuNPs plus DIA; OA-rats received DIA; OA-rats received AuNPs, and OA-rats received AuNPs plus DIA. Blood, knee cartilage, liver and kidney samples were collected for biochemical and histological analysis. The synthesized AuNPs were nearly spherical with average size of 20 nm and zeta potential of 33 mV. AuNPs and DIA induced a significant improvement in serum inflammatory cytokines, biochemical parameters, estrogen level, hepatic and renal oxidative markers, hepatic DNA fragmentation, genomic template stability and cartilage joint histology of OA-rats. AuNPs were more effective than DIA and the combined treatment was more effective than the single treatment. It could be concluded that AuNPs are promising for the treatment of OA alone or in combination with DIA.

金（Au）化合物被用作各种炎症性疾病的有效治疗剂；然而，由于与多种副作用有关，Au 化合物的使用变得有限。因此，金纳米粒子 (AuNPs) 被开发为医疗建议的新选择。然而，金纳米粒子（AuNPs）在骨关节炎（OA）治疗中的安全性评估仍然模糊不清。本研究旨在生物合成、表征和评估生物合成的 AuNPs 和/或 Diacerein ^{®的治疗效果}(DIA) 在实验性 OA 中。OA 是通过在雌性大鼠的关节内膝关节内单次注射碘乙酸钠（3 mg/关节）来诱导的。正常大鼠（N-大鼠）和OA-大鼠如下口服治疗5周：未治疗的N-大鼠；未经处理的 OA 大鼠；N-大鼠接受 DIA (50 mg/kg bw)；N-大鼠接受 AuNPs (30 μg/kg bw)；N-大鼠接受 AuNPs 加 DIA；OA-大鼠接受 DIA；OA 大鼠接受 AuNPs，OA 大鼠接受 AuNPs 加 DIA。收集血液、膝关节软骨、肝脏和肾脏样本用于生化和组织学分析。合成的金纳米粒子几乎呈球形，平均尺寸为 20 nm，zeta 电位为 33 mV。AuNPs 和 DIA 可显着改善血清炎性细胞因子、生化参数、雌激素水平、肝肾氧化标志物、肝 DNA 片段化、OA大鼠的基因组模板稳定性和软骨关节组织学。AuNPs比DIA更有效，联合治疗比单一治疗更有效。可以得出结论，AuNPs 有望单独或与 DIA 联合治疗 OA。