title: Ascorbic acid iontophoresis for chondral gain in rats with arthritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the cellularity and thickness of the articular cartilage of the femur in rats with arthritis after treatment with iontophoresis.
  
  
  METHODS
  To evaluate these objectives, a histological analysis was performed on hematoxylin and eosin, where cellularity and cartilage thickness were observed and evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively by manual counting by 700.09µm² area.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The group treated with IAA had normal cellularity (40.1 cells/μm(2)) and maintenance of non-calcified cartilage (75.5μm), suggesting normal thickness. The non-treated group C+, on the other hand, had a lower mean number of chondrocytes (13.0μm(2)) (P <0.05) and, when the cartilage thickness was compared, it showed higher average thickness of calcified cartilage (104.8 mm) and lower mean of non-calcified cartilage (53.3μm).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of iontophoresis with L-ascorbic acid by continuous electric current contributed to a quantitative gain of chondrocytes and improved the thickness distribution of calcified and non-calcified cartilage. Level of Evidence III, Case Control Study.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Universidade Federal de São Carlos (Ufscar), São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mauricio Ferraz
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: de Arruda
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Botucatu, SP, Brazil, Escola de Medicina, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Campus Botucatu (FMB-UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucas Langoni
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Cassettari
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo (FMRP-USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lais Mara Siqueira das
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Neves
authors.affiliation: UNESP, Instituto de Química de Araraquara, Araraquara, SP, Brazil, Instituto de Química, Instituto de Química de Araraquara (IQ-UNESP), Araraquara, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Olga Maria Mascarenhas de Faria
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo (FMRP-USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil ; Universidade Paulista, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil, Universidade Paulista (UNIP), Campus Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre Márcio
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Marcolino
keywords: Ascorbic acid; Cartilage; Iontophoresis