Rubin A S, Roberts E D
Lab Invest. 1987 Sep;57(3):342-6.
An immune arthropathy was induced in New Zealand white rabbits by intradermal sensitization with complete Freund's adjuvant containing Mycobacterium butyricum followed by intra-articular administration of the bacterial antigen. Half of the animals were treated with 1 mg/kg/day of prednisolone sodium phosphate for 8 weeks by gavage beginning with the day of intra-articular challenge, while the remaining rabbits received the drug vehicle alone. By morphometric analysis (matrix/chondrocyte lacunae area ratio), we observed a significant decrease in cellularity in the arthritic articular cartilages from the vehicle control group. By contrast, there was a significant increase in cellularity in the patella, femoral and tibial cartilages of the steroid-treated animals as compared with that observed in the contralateral control joint. This study suggests that image analysis provides a reliable means for evaluation of architectural changes in the articular cartilage and allows for meaningful quantitation of the chondroprotective effects of drugs like prednisolone.
通过皮内注射含丁酸分枝杆菌的完全弗氏佐剂致敏新西兰白兔，随后关节内注射细菌抗原，诱导其发生免疫性关节病。从关节内注射攻击当天开始，一半动物通过灌胃给予1mg/kg/天的磷酸泼尼松龙钠，持续8周，而其余兔子仅接受药物赋形剂。通过形态计量分析（基质/软骨细胞陷窝面积比），我们观察到赋形剂对照组的关节炎关节软骨细胞数量显著减少。相比之下，与对侧对照关节相比，类固醇治疗动物的髌骨、股骨和胫骨软骨细胞数量显著增加。这项研究表明，图像分析为评估关节软骨的结构变化提供了一种可靠的方法，并能够对泼尼松龙等药物的软骨保护作用进行有意义的定量分析。
