Morphologic characteristics of developing osteoarthrotic lesions in the knee cartilage of str/in mice

Abstract

The development of osteoarthrotic cartilage lesions in the knee joints of male STR/IN mice was studied with respect to their histologic appearance and their various localizations in the joint. Spontaneous articular cartilage degeneration on the medial portion of the tibial plateau was considered to be the initial event. Continued loss of cartilage subsequently led to a pronounced instability of the knee joint, with a varus deformity. This was followed by medial patellar luxation with corresponding osteoarthrotic lesions at the facies patellaris femoris. The most marked osteoarthrotic cartilage degeneration developed on the medial tibial condyle and at the facies patellaris femoris of the femoropatellar joint. Histologic examination of the osteoarthrotic defects in these two regions revealed distinct morphologic differences with respect to formation of chondrocyte clusters, tendency to regeneration, and proliferation reactions. Lectin binding experiments in normal articular cartilage revealed regional differences regarding the presence or absence of keratan sulfate in the extracellular matrix. The lack of keratan sulfate in tibial cartilage might reflect its tendency to degenerate spontaneously. It is therefore suggested that male STR/IN mice are particularly useful for studying two different types of osteoarthrosis, one due to a biomechanically induced instability (patellar luxation) and one due to biochemical changes (absence of keratan sulfate) of still unknown pathogenesis.

Differential Age-Related Bone Architecture Changes between Female and Male STR/Ort Mice

“…Male STR/Ort mice, which were initially derived from the parent strain STR/1N following a period of noninbreeding [23], are used as a spontaneous osteoarthritis (OA) model [20,22,28]. Interestingly, the incidence of OA in female STR/Ort mice is markedly lower than that in males [15,28], which is opposite to the situation in humans.…”

In vivo quantification of proteoglycan synthesis in articular cartilage of different topographical areas in the murine knee joint

“…Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. G. van Osch at Department of Rheumatology, Geert Grooteplein mid 8,6525 G A Nijmegen, The Netherlands. most marked in the medial tibial plateau (20,27). In mice injected intra-articularly with 11-1, sodium iodoacetate, or collagenase, lesions were more advanced on the medial side of the joint than on the lateral side (22,24).…”

Age-Related Osteo-Arthrotic Degeneration of the Temporomandibular Joint in the Mouse

“…Detail by electron microscopy. The articular surface close to a crack is thickly covered by a granular, electron-dense material (1). The crack itself is lined by the same material (asterisk), x 16.000.…”

“…Rounded chondrocyte of the discus articularis, containing many microfilaments (asterisk). The interstitial material contains many fibres (1). Between the fibres, there lie islands of amorphous material (2) with some electron-dense granules considered to be pro teoglycans.…”

“…It is well known that most inbred strains of laboratory mice develop osteo-arthrosis [ 1 ]. Different strains and dif ferent joints are affected in varying degrees by this degen erative joint disease.…”