Compositions including anthocyanin or anthocyanidin for the prevention or treatment of articular cartilage-associated conditions

1. A method of treating an arthritic joint of a subject, comprising:

a) excising synovial villi from a synovial capsule of a joint;

b) culturing by combining the synovial villi with a composition comprising an anthocyanin and optionally glucose or an anthocyanidin and optionally glucose; and

c) introducing the cultured synovial villi to the arthritic joint.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the synovial villi are excised by selective excision of finger-like projections from an underlying synovial capsule.

3. A method of treating an arthritic joint of a subject, comprising:

a) excising synovial villi from a synovial capsule of a joint to provide an explant;

b) introducing the explant to the arthritic joint; and

c) administering a composition intra-articularly to the arthritic joint, wherein the composition comprises an anthocyanin and optionally glucose or an anthocyanidin and optionally glucose.

4. A method of treating an arthritic joint of a subject, comprising:

a) harvesting mesenchymal stem cells from synovium;

b) culturing the stem cells with a composition comprising an anthocyanin or anthocyanidin; and optionally glucose; and

c) introducing the cultured stem cells to the arthritic joint.

5. A method for increasing expression of IGF-1 in a cartilage explant, comprising providing a cartilage explant from a patient suffering from osteoarthritis and administering to the explant a composition comprising an anthocyanin and glucose or an anthocyanidin and glucose.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the anthocyanin is selected from the group consisting of, delphinidin 3-glucoside and kuromanin; and wherein the anthocyanidin is selected from the group consisting of cyanidin, delphinidin, pelargonidin, malvidin and petunidin.