Abstract: Osteoarthritis is the most common type of joint disease characterized by progressive loss of articular cartilage
integrity and other joint changes. We aimed to investigate the possible effects of herbal extract (aronia) on collagenase
induced osteoarthritis in albino rats. Twenty four rats were used in this study and were divided into 6 groups. Group 1 served
as a control group and received saline only. Groups 2, 3, and 4 received collagenase and the specimens were taken after 10, 15
and 30 days respectively. Groups 5 and 6 received collagenase and aronia daily by oral gavages for 15 and 30 days
respectively. Articular cartilage specimens were assessed by hematoxlyin & eosin for general histology, touilidine blue for
proteoglycans, and caspase 3 for apoptosis detections. Upon collagenase treatment, rats showed highly destructed
chondrocytes with pyknotic nuclei, and no clear lacunae, shrunken cytoplasm could be observed. Toluidine blue stain
revealed marked destruction of sulphated proteoglycan in the extracellular matrix and in the cartilage capsules. Caspase 3
immunostaining revealed marked reaction in most of the chondrocytes. On the other hand, rats treated with aronia showed that
the chondrocytes were more or less normal in shape, toluidine blue stain showed slight or no loss of proteoglycan, and caspase
3 immunostaining revealed a markedly reduced reaction of chondrocytes. It is concluded that aronia helps to ameliorate the
induced osteoarthritis in rats