title: Groove model of tibia-femoral osteoarthritis in the rat.
abstract: Several experimental models of osteoarthritis in rats are used to study the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis. Many mechanically induced models have the limitation that permanent joint instability is induced by, for example, ligament transection or meniscal damage. This permanent instability will counteract the potential beneficial effects of therapy. The groove model of osteoarthritis uses a one-time trigger, surgically induced cartilage damage on the femoral condyles, and has been validated for the canine tibia-femoral compartment. The present study evaluates this model for the rat knee joint. The articular cartilage of the weight bearing surface of both femoral condyles and trochlea were damaged (grooved) without damaging the underlying subchondral bone. Severity of joint degeneration was histologically assessed, in addition to patella cartilage damage, and subchondral bone characteristics by means of (contrast-enhanced) micro-CT. Mild histological degeneration of the surgically untouched tibial plateau cartilage was observed in addition to damage of the femoral condyles, without clear synovial tissue inflammation. Contrast enhanced micro-CT demonstrated proteoglycan loss of the surgically untouched patella cartilage. Besides, a more sclerotic structure of the subchondral bone was observed. The tibia-femoral groove model in a rat results in mild knee joint degeneration, without permanent joint instability and joint inflammation. This makes the rat groove model a useful model to study the onset and progression of post-traumatic non-inflammatory osteoarthritis, creating a relatively sensitive model to study disease modifying osteoarthritic drugs. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Orthopaedic Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the Orthopaedic Research Society. J Orthop Res 35:496-505, 2017.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, UMC Utrecht, F.02.127, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Orthopaedics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Huub M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: de Visser
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, UMC Utrecht, F.02.127, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Orthopaedics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Harrie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weinans
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, UMC Utrecht, F.02.127, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Coeleveld
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mattie H P
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: van Rijen
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, UMC Utrecht, F.02.127, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Floris P J G
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Lafeber
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, UMC Utrecht, F.02.127, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Simon C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Mastbergen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000473:pathology*; D002356:Cartilage / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D017208:Rats, Wistar
keywords: OA animal model; bone; cartilage; osteoarthritis; rat