Fig. 6

The effect of anti-human receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand mouse monoclonal antibody (ahRANKL-MCA) on the mRNA expression of matrix-degrading enzymes and proinflammatory cytokines with or without recombinant human interleukin-1 beta (rhIL-1β) stimulation. The mRNA expression of IL-1β (a, b), matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-3 (c, d), and MMP-13 (e, f) by annulus fibrosus (AF) (a, c, e) and nucleus pulposus (NP) (b, d, f) cells were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. ahRANKL-MCA significantly suppressed the expression of IL-1β, MMP-3 and MMP-13 by AF cells and that of MMP-3 by NP cells upregulated by rhIL-1β (1.0 ng/mL) stimulation. There was a similar trend in the expression levels of IL-1β and MMP-13 by NP cells: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01