{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T02:52:47Z","timestamp":1792637567473,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,22]],"date-time":"2023-02-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1677024000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001807","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o de Amparo \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2019\/24639-7"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019\/24639-7"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001807","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001807","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o de Amparo \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MR\/S008608\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MR\/S008608\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001807","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001807","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o de Amparo \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SBF004\\1112"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SBF004\\1112"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001807","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000265","name":"Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2019\/24639-7"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019\/24639-7"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000265","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000265","name":"Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MR\/S008608\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MR\/S008608\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000265","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000265","name":"Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SBF004\\1112"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SBF004\\1112"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000265","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000691","name":"Academy of Medical Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2019\/24639-7"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019\/24639-7"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000691","name":"Academy of Medical Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MR\/S008608\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MR\/S008608\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000691","name":"Academy of Medical Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SBF004\\1112"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SBF004\\1112"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Exposure to environmental pollutants has a proven detrimental impact on different aspects of human health. Increasing evidence has linked pollution to the degeneration of tissues in the joints, although through vastly uncharacterised mechanisms. We have previously shown that exposure to hydroquinone (HQ), a benzene metabolite that can be found in motor fuels and cigarette smoke, exacerbates synovial hypertrophy and oxidative stress in the synovium. To further understand the impact of the pollutant on joint health, here we investigated the effect of HQ on the articular cartilage. HQ exposure aggravated cartilage damage in rats in which inflammatory arthritis was induced by injection of Collagen type II. Cell viability, cell phenotypic changes and oxidative stress were quantified in primary bovine articular chondrocytes exposed to HQ in the presence or absence of IL-1\u03b2. HQ stimulation downregulated phenotypic markers genes SOX-9 and Col2a1, whereas it upregulated the expression of the catabolic enzymes MMP-3 and ADAMTS5 at the mRNA level. HQ also reduced proteoglycan content and promoted oxidative stress alone and in synergy with IL-1\u03b2. Finally, we showed that HQ-degenerative effects were mediated by the activation of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor. Together, our findings describe the harmful effects of HQ on articular cartilage health, providing novel evidence surrounding the toxic mechanisms of environmental pollutants underlying the onset of articular diseases.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells12050690","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,22]],"date-time":"2023-02-22T03:59:16Z","timestamp":1677038356000},"page":"690","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Hydroquinone, an Environmental Pollutant, Affects Cartilage Homeostasis through the Activation of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Pathway"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Cintia Scucuglia","family":"Heluany","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7AL, UK"},{"name":"Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analyses, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo 015508-000, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"De Palma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7AL, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicholas James","family":"Day","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7AL, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sandra Helena Poliselli","family":"Farsky","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analyses, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo 015508-000, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9424-3075","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovanna","family":"Nalesso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7AL, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"542168","DOI":"10.1155\/2013\/542168","article-title":"Hydroquinone: Environmental pollution, toxicity, and microbial answers","volume":"2013","author":"Enguita","year":"2013","journal-title":"Biomed Res. 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Sci., 22.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms22020757"}],"container-title":["Cells"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4409\/12\/5\/690\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T18:39:00Z","timestamp":1760121540000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4409\/12\/5\/690"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,22]]},"references-count":50,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3]]}},"alternative-id":["cells12050690"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/cells12050690","relation":{},"ISSN":["2073-4409"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2073-4409","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,22]]}}}