The multi-target mechanism of food derived peptides in improving knee cartilage injury: anti-inflammatory effects, matrix metabolism regulation, and oxidative stress protection
Hou S. Liu W. Zhang Q. Li H. Guo Z. Jenis J. Liu X.
December 2025Elsevier Ltd
Food Bioscience
2025#74
Cartilage damage in the knee is a key pathological feature of osteoarthritis (OA), with limited self-repair capacity. Since drug therapies and surgical interventions carry side effects, there is a need to identify safe and effective new treatments. Food derived peptides, as small bioactive molecules, offer benefits such as high bioavailability, multi-target regulation, and low toxicity, and have potential for cartilage repair. In terms of anti-inflammation and immunomodulation, these peptides can disrupt the cycle of inflammation and degradation by inhibiting signaling pathway activation, balancing pro- and anti-inflammatory factors, and modulating immune cell functions. Regarding metabolic homeostasis, they can simultaneously inhibit matrix degradation and promote synthesis, achieving both anti-catabolic and pro-anabolic effects. In antioxidant and anti-apoptotic protection, food derived peptides enhance antioxidant capacity by scavenging free radicals, thereby supporting chondrocyte survival. To rationally optimize these multi-target benefits, we next dissect the structure-activity relationship of chondroprotective peptides. By summarizing the structure-activity relationship of food derived peptides in alleviating knee joint cartilage damage, this review finds that food derived peptides with low-molecular-weight (<2 kDa) show better therapeutic effects than those with high-molecular-weight, and food derived peptides with higher content of hydrophobic amino acids can better alleviate knee joint cartilage damage. Moreover, the amino acid content will affect the specific pathways used to treat knee joint cartilage damage. This review brings a new direction for nutritional intervention in knee cartilage degeneration.
Cartilage matrix metabolism , Food derived peptides , Immune regulation , Inflammation , Knee joint cartilage , Oxidative stress
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Key Laboratory of Geriatric Nutrition and Health (Beijing Technology and Business University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100048, China
Department of Orthopaedics, The Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding, 071000, China
The Research Center for Medicinal Plants, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Key Laboratory of Geriatric Nutrition and Health (Beijing Technology and Business University)
Department of Orthopaedics
The Research Center for Medicinal Plants
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