title: The chondroprotective effects of intraarticular application of statin in osteoarthritis: An experimental study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most frequent chronic joint disease causing pain and disability. Recent reports have shown that statin may have the potential to inhibit osteoarthritis. This study of early stage OA developed in an experimental rabbit model, aimed to evaluate the chondroprotective effects of intraarticularly applied atorvastatin on cartilage tissue macroscopically and histopathologically by examining intracellular and extracellular changes by light and electron microscope.
  
  
  METHODS
  The experimental knee OA model was created by cutting the anterior cruciate ligament of the 20 mature New Zealand rabbits. The rabbits were randomly allocated into two groups of 10.
  
  
  METHODS
  The group that received intraarticular statin therapy;
  
  
  METHODS
  The group that did not receive any intraarticular statin therapy. The control group received an intraarticular administration of saline and the study group atorvastatin from the 1(st) week postoperatively, once a week for 3 weeks. The knee joints were removed including the femoral and tibial joint surfaces for light and electron microscopic studies of articular cartilages.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean total points obtained from the evaluation of the lesions that developed in the medial femoral condyle were 11.33 ± 0.667 for the control group and 1.5 ± 0.687 for the study group. The mean total points obtained from the evaluation of the lesions that developed in medial tibial plateau cartilage tissue were 11.56 ± 0.709 for the control group and 1.40 ± 0.618 for the study group. Electron microscopic evaluation revealed healthy cartilage tissue with appropriate chondrocyte and matrix structure in study group and impaired cartilage tissue in control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chondroprotective effect of statin on cartilage tissue was determined in this experimental OA model evaluated macroscopically and by light and electron microscope. There are some evidences to believe that the chondroprotective effect of the statin is that, by protecting the structure of the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi complex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Dr. Ersin Arslan State Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sarp
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bayyurt
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Gemlik Muammer Agim State Hospital, Gemlik, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Küçükalp
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muhammed Sadik
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bilgen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ömer Faruk
authors.initials: ÖF
authors.lastname: Bilgen
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: İlkin
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Çavuşoğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ulviye
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Yalçınkaya
keywords: Chondroprotective effect; Osteoarthritis drug evaluation preclinical; electron microscope; experimental osteoarthritis; knee; osteoarthritis; statin