Effects of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. supplementation on serum levels of inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases in females with knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: In an attempt to investigate new strategies aimed at reducing inflammation in osteoarthritis, the anti-inflammatory effect of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. as a complementary treatment was evaluated in females with knee osteoarthritis.

METHOD: In this clinical trial, 90 females with mild to moderate osteoarthritis were assigned to two intervention and one placebo groups. In addition to the conventional therapy, the patients in intervention groups received 15g/day of E. angustifolia L. medulla and whole fruit powders respectively for 8 weeks. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukine-1β (IL-1β), interleukine-10 (IL-10), matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and -13 (MMP-13) were measured with human ELISA kits. Paired t-test and ANOVA were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: The statistically significant decrease was observed in the mean levels of serum TNF-α in the medulla (0.004) and whole fruit (0.001) groups after 8 weeks of supplementation. In contrast to the placebo group, there was a significant rise in the mean levels of serum IL-10 in medulla (p-value=0.01) and whole fruit groups (p-value=0.009) at the end of study. The interventions resulted in significant decrease in the mean levels of serum MMP-1 in the medulla (0.001) and whole fruit (0.002) groups. After the interventions, no significant changes were observed in the serum IL-1β and MMP-13 levels.

CONCLUSION: Daily supplementation with E. angustifolia L. in both forms of medulla and whole fruit powders appeared to be effective for decreasing inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and MMP-1) and enhancing anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10).