title: Antigen-induced arthritis in rabbits: a comparative study between high-resolution ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound and pathologic findings.
abstract: The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility and value of high-resolution ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound in evaluation of synovitis in rabbit knee joint in antigen-induced arthritis (AIA). Thirty-six rabbits were divided into three groups, each injected with different doses of ovalbumin (OVA) into the right knee joint. On week 1 and 4, 6 randomly selected in each group were killed. Each knee joint undergone the high-resolution ultrasound to measure capsule thickness and contrast-enhanced ultrasound to measure synovium thickness. The results from the ultrasound examinations were compared with those of pathologic examinations. Different OVA doses resulted in different modeling success rate, different pathological synovitis score, and different capsule and synovium thickness measured by ultrasound. The diagnostic accuracy of synovitis by ultrasound was high. The ultrasound measurement revealed that the capsule thickness on week 4 was lessened than that on week 1, while the synovial thickness on week 4 was greater than that on week 1. Both the joint capsule and synovium thickness measured by ultrasound were significantly and positively correlated to the pathologic synovitis score (P < 0.05). The synovial thickness on week 4 is more correlated to the synovitis score than the capsule thickness, rather than that on week 1. Injection of OVA of different doses results in different modeling success rate and synovitis severity. The high-resolution ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound can be used to determine whether the AIA was made successfully and evaluate the synovitis severity. In chronic inflammatory phase, the contrast-enhanced ultrasound has better effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No.37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, 610041, China. wsqiuli@126.com
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Lingyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D003287:Contrast Media; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D010047:Ovalbumin; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D011817:Rabbits; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D013585:Synovitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D010047:Ovalbumin