Avocado/soybean unsaponifiables prevent the inhibitory effect of osteoarthritic subchondral osteoblasts on aggrecan and type II collagen synthesis by chondrocytes.

To determine the effects of avocado/soybean unsaponifiables (ASU) on osteoblast-induced dysregulation of chondrocyte metabolism.Human chondrocytes were isolated from osteoarthritis (OA) cartilage and cultured in alginate beads for 4 or 10 days in the absence or presence of osteoblasts isolated from nonsclerotic (NSC) or sclerotic (SC) zones of OA subchondral bone plate in monolayer. Before co-culture, osteoblasts were incubated or not with 10...