Hyaluronan suppresses lidocaine-induced apoptosis of human chondrocytes in vitro by inhibiting the p53-dependent mitochondrial apoptotic pathway

Intra-articular injection of local anesthetics (LAs) is a common procedure for therapeutic purposes. However, LAs have been found toxic to articular cartilage, and hyaluronan may attenuate this toxicity. In this study we investigated whether hyaluronan attenuated lidocaine-induced chondrotoxicity, and if so, to elucidate the underlying mechanisms