Water snail’s (Pila ampullaceae) shells extract therapy for healing osteoarthritis based on articular cartilage thickness and total number of chondrocyte

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disorder happened from the result of chondrocytes failure to the synthesis matrix and maintains the balance between extracellular matrix degradation and synthesis, excessive production of collagen type I, III, VI, and X, and low proteoglycan synthesis. Crustacean and gastropod shells from crab, shrimp, and snail contain glucosamine that delivers chondrocytes to express the aggrecan proteoglycan and collagen type II and blocking the IL-1 and MMP 13. The purpose of this study was to find the effect of water snail’s (Pila ampullacea) shells extract therapy on the articular cartilage thickness and the total number of chondrocytes used Wistar rat (Rattus novergicus) that inducted by 0.5 mL of 10 mg papain enzyme in 0.05 M Sodium Acetate. There were 4 groups: 1) negative control group; 2) positive control group; 3) therapy group with a dosage 1 g/kg b.wt. of water snail’s shells extract, and 4) therapy group with a dosage 3 g/kg b.wt. of water snail’s shells extract. The result showed that articular cartilage thickness group 1 presented 216.29 ±11.77 µm, group 2 showed 150.54 ± 6.03 µm, group 3 was 176.87 ± 5.97 µm and group 4 was 193.45 ± 6.46 µm. On the number of chondrocytes, group 1 consists of 65.60 ± 4.15 chondrocytes, group 2 consist of 16.00 ± 5.38 chondrocytes, group 3 consists of 35.40 ± 4.97 chondrocytes, and group 4 consists of 54.20 ± 6.68 chondrocytes. The conclusion of this study was water snail’s (Pila ampullacea) shells extracts therapy of 3 g/kg b.wt. was able to repair joint damage by the increased thickness of the articular cartilage layer and increased the total number of chondrocytes significantly in osteoarthritis animal models.