Figure 1

Hydrogen protects chondrocytes of hyaline cartilage from cell death. (A) Porcine cartilage slices were incubated with 0, 1 or 3 mM SNAP in the presence or absence of hydrogen for 12 hr at 37°C. Cells were stained with a mixture of calcein AM (Live cell: green) and ethidium homodimer (Dead cell: red) as described in Materials and methods. Scale bar: 100 μm. (B) Chondrocyte viability was determined by counting green and red cells from three areas of each slice. Six slices were used for each experimental group. The slices were incubated with 0, 1 or 3 mM SNAP in the presence or absence of hydrogen for 12, 24 or 36 hr at 37°C. Data are the means ± SD (n= 6). *p< 0.05; **p< 0.01.