Role of gold nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles for chondroitin sulfate in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a disease which is characterized by joint pain, swelling and stiffness. Articular cartilage has limited self-repair capacity due to its avascular and aneural nature. In this work, we show the use of gold nanoparticles (AuNps) for enhancing the delivery of chondroitin sulfate (CS), a drug used in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). AuNps were synthesized and were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-Ray diffraction analysis. AuNps were combined with CS (AuNps-CS) and their effect on primary goat chondrocytes was studied using MTT assay, Hoechst staining, production of glycosaminoglycan and collagen. Cell viability studies by MTT revealed that AuNps-CS stimulate cell proliferation. A two-fold increase in GAG and collagen production was observed in presence of AuNps-CS combination as compared to native CS, indicating that this combination stimulates chondrocyte proliferation and enhances extracellular matrix production (ECM). Hence, this study exhibits the potential of AuNps as a carrier of CS for treatment of osteoarthritis.