The expression levels of hsa-miR-15a and A disintegrin-like and metalloprotease (reprolysin type) with thrombospondin type 1 motif, 5 (ADAMTS5, also known as aggrecanase-2) were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in both OA and normal chondrocytes. hsa-miR‑21 mimics or antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) were co-transfected into the chondrocytes to examine the effects on the putative binding sites compared with the negative control (NC)-mimics or NC-ASO.
Furthermore, the results from the in vitro experiments revealed that miR-21 decreased the levels of triglycerides (TG), free cholesterol (FC) and total cholesterol (TC) in the PA/OA-treated HepG2 cells and that this effect was attenuated by HMGCR overexpression.