The Effect of Aerobic Exercise with and without Quercetin Supplementation on Rat’s Knee Osteoarthritis

Background: Osteoarthritis is the commonest form of arthritis and is considered to be one out of ten major causes of disability in the world. The objective of present study was to investigate the effect of treadmill exercise alone and in combination with quercetin supplementation on male rats’ knee osteoarthritis.

Materials and Methods: Thirty male Wistar rats (weight of 173±1 g, 8-weeks old) were randomly divided into 5 experimental groups (N=6): intact control, MIA only, training, quercetin, training plus quercetin. The Osteoarthritis model was induced by intra-articular injection of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA). Subjects then followed a moderate-intensity exercise program and quercetin supplementation for 28 days. Rats were killed after 28 days and histological assessment has been performed on their knee joints. One-way ANOVA (p<0.05) and post-hoc Tukey test was used for the statistical analysis.

Results: Histological assessment including 1- Depth Ratio of Lesions (p=0.001), 2- Total Degeneration Width (p=0.001) and 3- Significant Degeneration Width (p=0.001) demonstrated a beneficial influence of moderate exercise combined with quercetin supplementation group, but this influence was not superior to the moderate exercise alone group.

Conclusion: This study shows that a moderate exercise program and quercetin supplementation, either alone or in combination, exert a beneficial influence on rats’ knee osteoarthritis. But it appears that moderate exercise alone has more effectiveness.