Abstract
Glucosamine (GlcN) has been widely used to treat osteoarthritis (OA) in humans. However,
the effects of GlcN on autophagy in chondrocyte are still unknown. In this study, to elucidate
the chondroprotective action of GlcN via autophagy on OA, we examined the effects of GlcN
on the expression of autophagy-related genes and proteins (LC3-II, Beclin-1, ATG5 and ATG7)
using a human chondrocyte cell line Hs 819.T. Hs 819.T cells were incubated in the absence
or presence of GlcN. GlcN significantly increased protein level of LC3-II and mRNA expression
of Beclin-1, ATG5 and ATG7. Moreover, GlcN significantly increased protein level of SIRT1.
These observations suggest that GlcN increases the expression of SIRT1 and induces
autophagy in chondrocytes, thereby exhibiting the chondroprotective action on OA.
