Fig. 5

Cucurbitacin E inhibits cartilage degradation in DMM model mice. A Animal experimental roadmap. B HE staining of cartilage from the three groups (scale bar, 100 µm); C Alcian blue staining of cartilage from the three groups (scale bar, 50 µm); D Safranin O/Fast Green staining (scale bar, 100 µm) and local magnification (scale bar, 50 µm) of cartilage from the three groups. E OARSI scores of cartilage in different groups (normal control group, DMM group, DMM + Cucurbitacin E group). The significance of differences between groups is expressed as P values (***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05,^nsP > 0.05)