THE HISTOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES ON EXPERIMENTAL OSTEOARTHRITIS IN RABBIT KNEE
Keywords:
rabbit, osteoarthritis, model, gross morphology, histopathology, pyridinolineAbstract
Osteoarthrosis (OA) is a common joint disease, characterized by degenerative
changes in articular cartilage and reactive proliferation of bone and cartilage
around the joint. The evaluation of the histological and biochemical changes were
investigated on the articular cartilage of knee joint during development of
osteoarthritis in rabbits following anterior cruciate ligament transsection (ACLT). A
total of 12 New Zealand White (NZW) male rabbits with closed epiphyses underwent
ACLT of knees and healthy control knees arthrotomy. The animals were killed at 9
weeks after surgery. The parameters tested were gross morphology, histology as well
as urinary pyridinoline (Pyr) and creatinine. Morphological changes in
osteoarthritic femoral condyles were seen on both, medial and lateral region, but
markedly on medial condyle of the ACLT knee. The articular cartilage was
characterised by a rough and hypertrophic appearance with severe erosions. The
gross morphological examination of healthy control revealed no changes.
Histological evidence for cartilage degeneration was observed in the ACLT knees. In
OA femoral condyles the articular cartilage showed degenerative changes,
including: rough surface, loss of superficial layer, erosion, fissures, irregular
arrangement and form of chondrocytes. Biochemical determinations showed
significantly higher concentrations of urinary Pyr in the OA rabbits compared to
healthy rabbits during the whole period of the study (9 weeks), indicating a higher
collagen degradation of cartilage and subchondral bone in the osteoarthritic
animals.
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