Florea C, Malo M K H, Rautiainen J, Mäkelä J T A, Fick J M, Nieminen M T, Jurvelin J S, Davidescu A, Korhonen R K
Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, POB 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland; Department of Mechatronics, "Politehnica" University of Timişoara, Mechanical Engineering Faculty, Bd. Mihai Viteazul 1, RO-300222 Timişoara, Romania.
Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, POB 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland.
Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2015 Mar;23(3):414-22. doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2014.11.023. Epub 2014 Dec 3.
To quantify early osteoarthritic-like changes in the structure and volume of subchondral bone plate and trabecular bone and properties of articular cartilage in a rabbit model of osteoarthritis (OA) induced by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT).
Left knee joints from eight skeletally mature New Zealand white rabbits underwent ACLT surgery, while the contralateral (CTRL) right knee joints were left unoperated. Femoral condyles were harvested 4 weeks after ACLT. Micro-computed tomography imaging was applied to evaluate the structural properties of subchondral bone plate and trabecular bone. Additionally, biomechanical properties, structure and composition of articular cartilage were assessed.
As a result of ACLT, significant thinning of the subchondral bone plate (P < 0.05) was accompanied by significantly reduced trabecular bone volume fraction and trabecular thickness in the medial femoral condyle compartment (P < 0.05), while no changes were observed in the lateral compartment. In both lateral and medial femoral condyles, the equilibrium modulus and superficial zone proteoglycan (PG) content were significantly lower in ACLT than CTRL joint cartilage (P < 0.05). Significant alterations in the collagen orientation angle extended substantially deeper into cartilage from the ACLT joints in the lateral femoral condyle relative to the medial condyle compartment (P < 0.05).
In this model of early OA, significant changes in volume and microstructure of subchondral bone plate and trabecular bone were detected only in the femoral medial condyle, while alterations in articular cartilage properties were more severe in the lateral compartment. The former finding may be associated with reduced joint loading in the medial compartment due to ACLT, while the latter finding reflects early osteoarthritic changes in the lateral compartment.
在通过切断前交叉韧带（ACLT）诱导的骨关节炎（OA）兔模型中，量化软骨下骨板和小梁骨结构及体积的早期骨关节炎样变化以及关节软骨的特性。
对8只骨骼成熟的新西兰白兔的左膝关节进行ACLT手术，而对侧（CTRL）右膝关节不进行手术。ACLT术后4周采集股骨髁。应用显微计算机断层扫描成像评估软骨下骨板和小梁骨的结构特性。此外，还评估了关节软骨的生物力学特性、结构和组成。
ACLT导致软骨下骨板显著变薄（P < 0.05），同时股骨内侧髁间室的小梁骨体积分数和小梁厚度显著降低（P < 0.05），而外侧间室未观察到变化。在股骨外侧和内侧髁中，ACLT组关节软骨的平衡模量和表面区蛋白聚糖（PG）含量均显著低于CTRL组（P < 0.05）。相对于内侧髁间室，ACLT组外侧股骨髁关节软骨的胶原取向角显著改变，且从软骨表面向深部延伸的范围更大（P < 0.05）。
在这个早期OA模型中，仅在股骨内侧髁检测到软骨下骨板和小梁骨体积及微观结构的显著变化，而关节软骨特性的改变在外侧间室更为严重。前者的发现可能与ACLT导致内侧间室关节负荷降低有关，而后者的发现反映了外侧间室的早期骨关节炎变化。
