_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019 Feb 28; 7(4):529-535. 529 ID Design Press, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2019 Feb 28; 7(4):529-535. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.152 eISSN: 1857-9655 Basic Science The Effect of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Wharton's Jelly on Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 and Interleukin-4 Levels in Osteoarthritis Rat Model Endrinaldi Endrinaldi 1,2* , Eryati Darwin 3 , Nasrul Zubir 4 , Gusti Revilla 5 1 Postgraduate Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia; 2 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia; 3 Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia; 4 Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia; 5 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia Citation: Endrinaldi E, Darwin E, Zubir N, Revilla G. The Effect of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Wharton's Jelly on Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 and Interleukin-4 Levels in Osteoarthritis Rat Model. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019 Feb 28; 7(4):529-535. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.152 Keywords: Matrix Metalloproteinase-1; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Wharton Jelly; Interleukin-4; Osteoarthritis *Correspondence: Endrinaldi Endrinaldi. Faculty of Medicine, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia. E-mail: endrinaldi947@gmail.com Received: 21-Nov-2018; Revised: 06-Feb-2019; Accepted: 07-Feb-2019; Online first: 27-Feb-2019 Copyright: © 2019 Endrinaldi Endrinaldi, Eryati Darwin, Nasrul Zubir, Gusti Revilla. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) Funding: This research was funded by DIPA PNBP Medical Faculty of Andalas University, Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education with Research Contract Number: 90/BBPT/PNP/FK-UNAND- 2018 Budget Year 2018 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist Abstract BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is generally considered a degenerative joint disease caused by biomechanical changes and the ageing process. In OA pathogenesis, the development of OA is thought to be regulated largely by excess matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), which contributes to the degradation of extracellular matrices such as MMP-1 and Interleukin-4. AIM: This study aims to prove the influence of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Wharton Jelly on decreasing MMP-1 levels and increasing IL-4 which is a specific target as a target component in cases of osteoarthritis in vivo. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This research is an experimental study with the design of Post-Test-Only Control Group Design. The sample consisted of 16 OA rats as a control group and 16 OA rats treated with MSC-WJ as a treatment group. OA induction is done by injection of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) into the intra-articular right knee. Giving MSC-WJ is done in the third week after MIA induction. The serum MMP-1 and IL-4 levels were measured after 3 weeks treated with MSC-WJ using the ELISA method. The statistical test used is an independent t-test. The value of p < 0.05 was said to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The result showed that serum MMP-1 levels were higher in the group treated with MSC-WJ than in the control group (p < 0.05). Serum IL-4 levels were higher in the group treated with MSC-WJ than in the control group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study concluded that MSC-WJ increased MMP-1 levels and IL-4 levels in serum OA rats. MSC-WJ showed a negative effect on MMP-1 in the serum of OA rats. Introduction Osteoarthritis (OA) is considered a cumulative result of mechanical and biological events caused by an imbalance between catabolic and anabolic processes in articular joint tissue [1]. At present, the development of OA is thought to be regulated largely by excess matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), which contributes to the degradation of extracellular matrices, such as MMP-1 and MMP-3 which play an important role in the development of OA by decreasing extracellular matrix [2], where this MMP is induced by inflammatory mediators, such as interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in tissue and OA joint fluid [3]. So far there are no drugs available to guarantee a complete cure and the possibility of recurrence from OA. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising candidates for cartilage regeneration and OA therapy because they have a chondrogenic potential and the ability to form extracellular matrices [4]. Also, MSC has an immunomodulatory and trophic capacity by secreting anti-inflammatory factors and growth factors [5], which might improve the inflammatory and catabolic aspects of OA.