Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Clin Interv Aging. 2012;7:373-82. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S35202. Epub 2012 Sep 18.
Little is known about the time course of changes in the microarchitecture of the tibial epiphysis with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), although such information would be valuable in predicting risk of fracture. Therefore, we used in vivo microcomputed tomography (μ-CT) to assess patterns of microarchitectural alterations in the tibial epiphysis using collagen-induced RA in an animal model.
Bovine type II collagen was injected intradermally into the tails of rats for induction of RA. The tibial joints were scanned by in vivo μ-CT at 0, 4, and 8 weeks following injection. Microarchitectural parameters were measured to evaluate alteration patterns of bone microarchitecture at the tibial epiphysis.
The microarchitectural alterations in an RA group were significantly different from those in a control group from 0 to 4 weeks and from 4 to 8 weeks following injection (P < 0.05). The distribution of trabecular bone thickness and trabecular bone separation from 0 weeks to 8 weeks differed significantly (P < 0.05).
These results indicate that the patterns of microarchitectural alterations at the tibial epiphysis are strongly affected by collagen-induced progression of RA and entail a severe risk of fracture at the tibial epiphysis. This study represents a valuable first approach to tracking periodic and continuous changes in the microarchitectural characteristics of the tibial epiphysis with collagen-induced RA.
尽管了解类风湿关节炎（RA）患者胫骨骨骺微观结构变化的时间进程对于预测骨折风险非常重要，但目前对此知之甚少。因此，我们使用体内 microCT（μ-CT）评估了动物模型中胶原诱导性 RA 对胫骨骨骺微观结构改变的模式。
将牛 II 型胶原皮内注射到大鼠尾部以诱导 RA。在注射后 0、4 和 8 周时，通过体内 μ-CT 扫描胫骨关节。测量微观结构参数以评估胫骨骨骺骨微观结构改变的模式。
RA 组的微观结构改变从注射后 0 周到 4 周以及从 4 周到 8 周与对照组有显著差异（P < 0.05）。从 0 周到 8 周，骨小梁厚度和骨小梁分离的分布有显著差异（P < 0.05）。
这些结果表明，胶原诱导性 RA 进展强烈影响胫骨骨骺微观结构改变的模式，并导致胫骨骨骺严重骨折风险。本研究代表了一种有价值的方法，可以跟踪胶原诱导性 RA 患者胫骨骨骺微观结构特征的周期性和连续性变化。
