[이데일리 이순용 기자] It is said that quince surprises people four times. First of all, I am surprised by the rugged and ugly shape, and by the excellent flavor, then by the characteristic astringent taste, and finally, by the fact that it is good for health enough to be used as a herbal medicine. In particular, quince is excellent for bone health and muscle pain relief, so it is used to treat back and neck pain and degenerative arthritis.
Jasaengsukjiyanggeuntang, which contains quince as a major herbal medicine, is prescribed for the treatment of degenerative vertebral joints because it strengthens the ligaments and muscles around the spine. In particular, the effect of quince on the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders has been reported scientifically. However, the mechanism of action for the therapeutic effect of quince has not been clearly elucidated. Under this circumstance, a research paper that first identified the mechanism of the cartilage protection effect of quince was published, drawing attention.
Osteoarthritis is a disease in which the cartilage that acts as a buffer between the bones is degenerated, damaged by obesity, or repeated impact, and inflammation occurs. In particular, cartilage must be protected before the damage progresses to prevent arthritis from worsening.
The research team, Chang-Hwan Yeo, researcher at Jaseng Oriental Hospital Spine and Joint Research Institute (Director Inhyuk Ha) announced on the 23rd that they confirmed that quince protects chondrocytes by inhibiting the breakdown of cartilage components through an experimental study. This paper was published in the April issue of ‘International Journal of Molecular Sciences’, an SCI(E)-level journal.
The research team first exposed inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β), a signaling pathway related to inflammation, to cartilage cells to create an environment for cartilage loss such as degenerative arthritis. Then, it was confirmed that the expression levels of ‘proteoglycan’ and ‘type 2 collagen (Col2a1)’, which are essential components for maintaining the flexibility and elasticity of cartilage, decreased. The research team then treated the quince extract at three concentrations (12.5, 25, and 50 μg/mL) to see if the damaged components were recovered.
As a result of the study, the expression levels of type 2 collagen and proteoglycan increased in a concentration-dependent manner in the quince extract, and the cartilage structure was restored. Regarding this mechanism of cartilage protection in quince, the research team interpreted that quince was the result of inhibiting the expression of p65 protein, which is involved in the secretion of inflammatory substances in the body’s signal transduction system (NF-kB), thereby preventing damage and degradation of major cartilage components.
The research team also confirmed the antioxidant effect of quince. In particular, in the study, quince significantly reduced the free radicals increased by inflammatory cytokines. Free radicals are known to cause degenerative arthritis as oxidative waste, which is the main cause of cartilage degeneration. The research team confirmed that the level of reactive oxygen species production in chondrocytes following exposure to inflammatory cytokines (11.4%) was higher than before exposure (8.4%). As a result of treatment with the quince extract, it was found that the higher the concentration (12.5, 25, 50 μg/mL), the less the generation of reactive oxygen species was 8.5%, 7.1%, and 6.8%, compared to before exposure.
Researcher Changhwan Yeo of Spine and Joint Research Center at Jaseng Hospital of Oriental Medicine said, “This paper is meaningful in that it first revealed the mechanism of action for the cartilage protective effect of quince, proving the therapeutic effect of Jaseng Sukjiyanggeun-tang for degenerative arthritis.” With active research on Korean quince, treatment using quince may be considered as an effective option in the future.”
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