We provided the first evidence that human WJ-MSCs from IUGR newborn exhibited poor capacity of chondrogenic differentiation and the subsequently differentiated chondrocytes presented an increased susceptibility to the osteoarthritis-like phenotype induced by IL-1β, which was attributed to the decreased H3K9ac level and mRNA expression of TGFβRI induced by excessive cortisol through GR/HDAC4. Here, HDAC4 is linked to osteoarthritis.