# Dietary supplementation of vitamin B1 prevents the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis

## TL;DR

This study shows that vitamin B1 can prevent osteoarthritis by reducing harmful inflammation in joints.

## Contribution

The study reveals vitamin B1 as a novel dietary supplement to mitigate osteoarthritis by targeting CCL2.

## Key findings

- Vitamin B1 is downregulated in the synovial fluid of osteoarthritis patients.
- Vitamin B1 supplementation reduces CCL2 production in macrophages and alleviates OA symptoms in mice.
- Exogenous CCL2 reverses the protective effects of vitamin B1 in osteoarthritis.

## Abstract

As the primary cause for chronic pain and disability in elderly individuals, osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the fastest-growing diseases due to the aging world population. To date, the impact of microenvironmental changes on the pathogenesis of OA remains poorly understood, greatly hindering the development of effective therapeutic approaches against OA. In this study, we profiled the differential metabolites in the synovial fluid from OA patients and identified the downregulation of vitamin B1 (VB1) as a metabolic feature in the OA microenvironment. In a murine destabilization of medial meniscus-induced OA model, supplementation of VB1 significantly mitigated the symptoms of OA. Cytokine array analysis revealed that VB1 treatment remarkably reduced the production of a pro-OA factor—C-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 2 (CCL2), in macrophages. Further evidence demonstrated that exogenous CCL2 counteracted the anti-OA function of VB1. Hence, our study unveils a unique biological function of VB1 and provides promising clues for the diet-based treatment of OA.