Objective To study the effect of chitosan-pCrmA nanoparticles on the apoptosis of chondrocytes induced by interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β).Methods Chitosan-pDNA nanoparticles were prepared and characterized.The transfection efficiency of chitosan-mediated pIRES2-EGFP was evaluated using fluorescence microscope.The cytotoxicity of chitosan-pIRES2-EGFP nanoparticles in primary rabbit chondrocytes was analyzed by MTT assay.The expression of chitosan-mediated pCrmA in primary rabbit chondrocytes was verified by Western blotting.The effect of chitosan-mediated CrmA on chondrocytes apoptosis induced by IL-1β were analyzed by TUNEL assay.One-way ANOVA was used to analysis.Results The size of chitosan-pDNA nanoparticles was 50 nm.The pDNA release of chitosan-pDNA nanoparticles appeared as biphasic release at pH 2.0 and pH 7.4 buffer.The expression of CrmA in rabbit primary chondrocytes mediated by chitosan could be detected.The chitosan-pIRES2-EGFP nanoparticles had no cytotoxicity.The apoptosis rate of chondrocytes in the chitosan-pCrmA nanoparticles treated group was significantly lower than that of the chitosan treated group (P＜0.05) and PBS group (P＜0.01).Conclsion Chitosan is an effective non-viral gene transfer vector.The CrmA mediated by chitosan can significantly inhibit chondrocytes apoptosis induced by IL-1β,suggesting that chitosan-pCrmA nanoparticles may be the treatment of osteoarthrifis.