Fig. 7

Histological changes in the knee joints (Safranin-O/fast green stain). As described previously, the histopathological appearances of the articular cartilage in ACLT-induced OA mice were examined after GE-P (300 mg/kg/day, d), GE-L (300 mg/kg/day, e), and celecoxib (10 mg/kg/day, c) treatment. Safranin-O/fast green staining (orange-red color indicates proteoglycan levels) in sagittal sections showing the main architecture (meniscus and cartilage) of the knee joint. Histological analysis using Safranin-O/fast green stain showing osteoarthritic changes in the articular cartilage of saline-treated mice (ACLT, b), whereas the knee joints of the vehicle controls (sham, a) showed no degenerative changes in the cartilage (a). Original magnification, × 400. Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) scores revealed less cartilage degeneration in the ACLT groups when compared with the other groups, indicating that GE-P and GE-L treatment reduced the extent of cartilage damage similar to celecoxib (c) treatment. Original magnification, × 400. All OARSI score statistics are shown in picture f. ***p < 0.001, significant difference when compared with the vehicle control (sham). ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01, ^###p < 0.001, significant differences when compared with saline-treated (ACLT) mice. M, meniscus; AC, articular cartilage