Background/Purpose: It is known that collagen V (col V) can generate autoimmunity when exposed. In contrast, induction of tolerance with col V supplementation is able to protect affected tissues in autoimmune diseases. In an earlier study, we found that Col V oral supplementation reduced synovial inflammation in experimental arthritis but its action in cartilage is not known. To verify the action of oral Col V supplementation on cartilage in an experimental model of induced arthritis (IA).

Methods: Thirty 3 months-old male Lewis rats with weight of 220–240g were used. Arthritis was induced by intra-articular infiltration of 500μg of mBSA emulsified in complete Freund’s adjuvant (10μl) at days zero, 7 and 14. Oral Col V (isolated from bovine placenta) supplementation (500μg/300μl / day / 30 days) was daily performed until 30 days’ euthanasia in 10 animals (IA-Col V group). The other 10 did not receive oral Col V (IA group). Five rats received intra-articular saline (Sal group) and 5 received only oral Col V (Col V). Morphological and histomorphometric analyses were performed after Safranin-O/Fast Green, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry staining with Image-Pro Plus6.0 software. Serum IL-1β, TNFα, IL-17, IL-10 and anti-Col V were measured. All the animals received human care in compliance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, published by the US National Institutes of Health. Ethics in Committee Research for Animal Studies approval number 295/12.

Results: In the IA-Col V group, cartilage showed neither cracks, nor chondrocyte organization, and the growth line was preserved compared to the IA group. There was no reduction in chondrocytes number in the IA-col V group (39.86±1.79 vs 25.35±4.62, p< 0.009), cartilage thickness (78.73±7.27 vs 52.52±5.74, p< 0.03), proteoglycans content (76.82±9.31 vs 25.45±1.23%, p< 0.0036), type II collagen content (76.99±1,339 vs 39.13±5,618 p< 0.0001) and apoptosis (21.85±6.92 vs 71.69±10.46) compared to the IA group. In addition, there was lower serum expression in the IA-col V group of IL-1β (4.28±4.75 vs 21.96±2.29, p< 0.0001), TNFα (1.70 ± 0.51 vs 1.76 ± 0.39, p< 0.0001), IL-17 (2.19±0.50 vs 27.24±10.65, p< 0.0001) and IL-10 (0.13±0.03 vs 27.95±17.11, p< 0.0001) compared to the IA group. Furthermore, the IA group presented serum anti-collagen V. The results of the Sal and Col V groups were similar to those of the IA-Col V group for every parameter.

Conclusion: The oral collagen V supplementation avoided the degradation of cartilage in an experimental arthritis model and may represent a new therapeutic option for this condition.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/oral-collagen-type-v-supplementation-inhibits-cartilage-degeneration-in-experimental-arthritis/