MID-TERM EFFECTS OF MELOXICAM ON COLLAGEN TYPE II
DEGRADATION IN A RAT OSTEOARTHRITIS MODEL INDUCED BY
IODOACETATE
ENIKŐ CSIFO (VAJDA)1, ELŐD ERNŐ NAGY1*, EMŐKE HORVÁTH2, ANNAMÁRIA FÁRR3, DANIELA-LUCIA MUNTEAN1
University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 38 Gheorghe Marinescu Street, 540139, Târgu Mureș, România
1Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences
2Faculty of General Medicine, Department of Morphological Sciences
3Faculty of General Medicine, Department of Functional and Complementary Sciences
*corresponding author: elod.nagy@umftgm.ro
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Abstract:
In the osteoarthritis pharmacotherapy, there is a high demand to define drugs with a combined effect of cartilage degradation
arrest and a high symptomatic relief capacity. In testing of such drugs, the C-telopeptide of collagen type II (CTX-II) is a
suitable biomarker. In the current study, we assessed the serum fraction of CTX-II in 36 Wistar rats, 27 of which were
injected with mono-iodoacetate in the left knee, in order to induce osteoarthritis, the remaining 9 being treated with intraarticular
saline solution (negative controls). After 3 weeks, the 27 iodoacetate-injected rats were treated with placebo (9
animals) and meloxicam (low-dose, 0.2 mg/kg bw and high-dose, 1 mg/kg bw, 9 animals in each group) for a period of 4
weeks. Baseline, 4th week (treatment withdrawal) and 8th (end-point) week CTX-II levels were assessed along with
histopathological modifications in each group. With comparable baseline levels in groups II-IV (16.91-20.72 pg/mL), a
significant decrease of CTX-II (3.08 pg/mL, p=0.007) has been observed after 4 weeks of treatment in the high-dose
meloxicam group, followed by an increase at the end-point to values yet much lower than those detected at baseline.
According to these results, meloxicam suppresses efficiently not only the recruitment of inflammatory cells, but also the
breakdown of collagen type II, even 4 weeks after the end of the therapy, a fact that should be confirmed in human clinical
studies and exploited in therapeutic schemes.






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