The effects of chitosan oligosaccharides on OPG and RANKL expression in a rat osteoarthritis model

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the effect of chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) against osteoarthritis (OA) and preliminarily discuss the osteoprotegerin (OPG), receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) and RANK expression in a rat OA model. Methods: Thirty-six 6-week-old Male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham-operated group(CON), OA-induction group(OA), COS intervention group(n=12/group). At 4 weeks after the operation, COS (50 ul) intervention weekily for consecutive 5 weeks. The OA and CON groups received an injection of 50 ul physiological saline. At death, 11 weeks ...