Moriyama H, Nishihara K, Hosoda M, Saka Y, Kanemura N, Takayanagi K, Yoshimura O, Tobimatsu Y
Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health and Social Services, Saitama Prefectural University, Saitama, Japan.
Spinal Cord. 2009 Mar;47(3):218-24. doi: 10.1038/sc.2008.96. Epub 2008 Aug 5.
Experimental, controlled trial, animal study.
To assess morphologic changes in different cartilage plates after spinal cord injury and identify the localization of these alterations.
Saitama, Japan.
A total of 16 Wistar rats were used. Eight rats underwent a spinal cord injury and eight rats had no intervention as control. The cartilage alterations of the knee joint were evaluated with radiography and histomorphometric analysis. To quantify cartilage alterations, we selected the histologic characteristics: thickness of the articular cartilage, number of chondrocytes, matrix staining to toluidine blue as a reflection of proteoglycan content and surface irregularity.
No differences in knee joints were found between the groups by radiography. In the medial knee joint, cartilage thickness of spinal-cord-injured knees increased at the anterior femoral region and decreased at the tibial and posterior femoral regions; however, in the lateral knee, that of spinal cord injuries did not change compared with control knees. Spinal cord injuries decreased the number of chondrocytes, especially at the anterior femoral regions. Matrix staining increased partially at the tibial regions. Surface irregularity of spinal-cord-injured knees was comparable to that of control knees in all cartilage plates.
The present findings exhibit characteristics of the cartilage after spinal cord injury. These alterations were different in nature between the medial and lateral regions. Future studies should assess separately different cartilage plates, to overestimate these severities when the changes at the medial knee were examined and to underestimate when the changes at the lateral knee were examined.
实验性对照试验，动物研究。
评估脊髓损伤后不同软骨板的形态学变化，并确定这些改变的定位。
日本埼玉。
总共使用16只Wistar大鼠。8只大鼠接受脊髓损伤，8只大鼠作为对照未接受干预。通过X线摄影和组织形态计量学分析评估膝关节的软骨改变。为了量化软骨改变，我们选择了组织学特征：关节软骨厚度、软骨细胞数量、甲苯胺蓝基质染色以反映蛋白聚糖含量以及表面不规则性。
通过X线摄影在两组之间未发现膝关节有差异。在内侧膝关节，脊髓损伤侧膝关节的软骨厚度在股骨前部区域增加，在胫骨和股骨后部区域减少；然而，在外侧膝关节，与对照侧膝关节相比，脊髓损伤侧膝关节的软骨厚度没有变化。脊髓损伤减少了软骨细胞数量，尤其是在股骨前部区域。在胫骨区域，基质染色部分增加。脊髓损伤侧膝关节在所有软骨板中的表面不规则性与对照侧膝关节相当。
本研究结果显示了脊髓损伤后软骨的特征。这些改变在内侧和外侧区域的性质不同。未来的研究应分别评估不同的软骨板，在内侧膝关节变化被检查时高估这些严重程度，而在外侧膝关节变化被检查时低估这些严重程度。
