Luedke Lauren K, Seabaugh Kathryn A, Cooper Benjamin G, Snyder Brian D, Wimmer Markus A, McIlwraith C Wayne, Barrett Myra F, Kawcak Christopher E, Grinstaff Mark W, Goodrich Laurie R
Gail Holmes Equine Orthopaedic Research Center, Translational Medicine Institute, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Feb 1;15(3):404. doi: 10.3390/ani15030404.
Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is a common cause of lameness in the horse. There is no cure, therefore treatments are aimed at reducing pain and improving the joint environment by modifying inflammatory pathways or by viscosupplementation. Here, we report the safety and efficacy of the biolubricant (poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine; pMPC) to mitigate the physical, gross, histological, and biochemical effects of arthritis. We created an osteochondral fragment in the middle carpal joint of one limb in 16 horses to induce PTOA; the contralateral limb served as a sham-operated joint. Two weeks postoperative, half (n = 8) of the horses received a single injection of pMPC in the PTOA joint, while the other half received saline. All sham-operated joints (n = 16) received saline. We conducted clinical evaluations weekly while synovial fluid biomarkers were measured biweekly during the 70-day study period. Subsequently, we performed postmortem gross and histologic analyses. Horses in which PTOA joints were treated with pMPC exhibited mild increases in clinical data, including lameness, effusion, and flexion scores. Similarly, synovial cell count, total protein, and prostaglandin E values were higher for pMPC-treated joints. Radiographic changes included significantly higher osteophyte scores in pMPC-treated joints at the terminal timepoint. The biolubricant may demonstrate some chondroprotective effects with lower total erosion scores and higher cartilage glycosaminoglycan content. In summary, when pMPC is administered to PTOA joints, the biolubricant induces a mild inflammatory response but may offer some chondroprotective effects in horses.
创伤后骨关节炎(PTOA)是马匹跛行的常见原因。目前尚无治愈方法,因此治疗旨在通过改变炎症途径或进行关节腔注射透明质酸钠来减轻疼痛并改善关节环境。在此,我们报告了生物润滑剂(聚(2-甲基丙烯酰氧基乙基磷酰胆碱;pMPC)减轻关节炎的物理、大体、组织学和生化影响的安全性和有效性。我们在16匹马的一侧肢体的腕中关节制造了一个骨软骨碎片以诱导PTOA;对侧肢体作为假手术关节。术后两周,一半(n = 8)的马在PTOA关节接受单次pMPC注射,而另一半接受生理盐水注射。所有假手术关节(n = 16)均接受生理盐水注射。在为期70天的研究期间,我们每周进行临床评估,每两周测量一次滑液生物标志物。随后,我们进行了死后大体和组织学分析。接受pMPC治疗的PTOA关节的马匹在临床数据上有轻度增加,包括跛行、积液和屈曲评分。同样,pMPC治疗的关节的滑膜细胞计数、总蛋白和前列腺素E值更高。影像学变化包括在终点时间点pMPC治疗的关节的骨赘评分显著更高。生物润滑剂可能表现出一些软骨保护作用,总侵蚀评分较低且软骨糖胺聚糖含量较高。总之,当将pMPC施用于PTOA关节时,该生物润滑剂会引发轻度炎症反应,但可能对马匹具有一些软骨保护作用。