High cholesterol might harm more than our cardiovascular
systems. New research using animal models, published online in The FASEB Journal, suggests that high
cholesterol levels trigger mitochondrial oxidative stress on cartilage cells,
causing them to die, and ultimately leading to the development of
osteoarthritis. This research tested the potential therapeutic role of
mitochondria targeting antioxidants in high-cholesterol-induced osteoarthritis
and provided proof-of-concept for the use of mitochondrial targeting
antioxidants to treat osteoarthritis.
To make this discovery, Prasadam and
colleagues used two different animal models to mimic human
hypercholesterolemia. The first was a mouse model that had an altered gene
called ApoE-/- that made the animals hypercholesteremic. The other was a rat
model, and the animals were fed a high-cholesterol diet, causing diet-induced
hypercholesterolemia. Both models were fed a high-cholesterol diet or control
normal diet, after which they underwent a surgery that mimics knee injuries in
people and was designed to bring on osteoarthritis.
Both the mice and the rats
that were subjected to surgery and fed with high-cholesterol diets showed more
severe osteoarthritis development than seen in the normal diet group. However,
when both the mice and the rats are were exposed to the cholesterol-lowering
drug atorvastatin and mitochondrion-targeted antioxidants, the development of
osteoarthritis was markedly decreased in relation to the untreated groups.
Source: Science daily
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