Botter S M, van Osch G J V M, Waarsing J H, Day J S, Verhaar J A N, Pols H A P, van Leeuwen J P T M, Weinans H
Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Biorheology. 2006;43(3,4):379-88.
In the past few years there has been a considerable interest in the role of bone in osteoarthritis. Despite the increasing evidence of the involvement of bone in osteoarthritis, it remains very difficult to attribute the cause or effect of changes in subchondral bone to the process of osteoarthritis. Although osteoarthritis in mice provides a useful model to study changes in the subchondral bone, detailed quantification of these changes is lacking. Therefore, the goal of this study was to quantify subchondral bone changes in a murine osteoarthritis model by use of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). We induced osteoarthritis-like characteristics in the knee joints of mice using collagenase injections, and after four weeks we calculated various 3D morphometric parameters in the epiphysis of the proximal tibia. The collagenase injections caused cartilage damage, visible in histological sections, particularly on the medial tibial plateau. Micro-CT analysis revealed that the thickness of the subchondral bone plate was decreased both at the lateral and the medial side. The trabecular compartment demonstrated a small but significant reduction in bone volume fraction compared to the contralateral control joints. Trabeculae in the collagenase-injected joints were thinner but their shape remained rod-like. Furthermore, the connectivity between trabeculae was reduced and the trabecular spacing was increased. In conclusion, four weeks after induction of osteoarthritis in the murine knee subtle but significant changes in subchondral bone architecture could be detected and quantified in 3D with micro-CT analysis.
在过去几年中，人们对骨骼在骨关节炎中的作用产生了浓厚兴趣。尽管越来越多的证据表明骨骼参与了骨关节炎，但仍很难将软骨下骨变化的原因或影响归因于骨关节炎的进程。虽然小鼠骨关节炎提供了一个研究软骨下骨变化的有用模型，但缺乏对这些变化的详细量化。因此，本研究的目的是通过使用微型计算机断层扫描（micro-CT）对小鼠骨关节炎模型中的软骨下骨变化进行量化。我们通过注射胶原酶在小鼠膝关节中诱导出类似骨关节炎的特征，四周后我们计算了胫骨近端骨骺的各种三维形态计量学参数。胶原酶注射导致软骨损伤，在组织学切片中可见，尤其是在内侧胫骨平台。微型计算机断层扫描分析显示，软骨下骨板在外侧和内侧的厚度均降低。与对侧对照关节相比，小梁区的骨体积分数有小幅但显著的降低。注射胶原酶的关节中的小梁更细，但形状仍为杆状。此外，小梁之间的连通性降低，小梁间距增加。总之，在小鼠膝关节诱导骨关节炎四周后，通过微型计算机断层扫描分析可以在三维空间中检测并量化软骨下骨结构中细微但显著的变化。
