Osteoarthritis models after anterior cruciate ligament resection and medial meniscectomy in rats. A histological and immunohistochemical study

OBJECTIVE: To compare the amount of degeneration based on the time spent, using 2 different methods of surgically induced osteoarthritis (OA) that frequently used in treating OA.

METHODS: We undertook this research in Ondokuz Mayis University, Surgical Research Center between April 2006 and July 2006. In this study, 55 rats were used, 7 as the control group, and 12 in each of 4 groups. We compared the amount of OA formed by the medial meniscectomy (MMx) and anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) at 8 and 16 weeks according to the Modified Mankin Score and histologically and immunohistochemically due to their response to Matrix metalloproteinase 13 expression (MMP13).

RESULTS: We observed the highest degeneration in the MMx model at 8 weeks, and this situation continued until 16 weeks. However, the degeneration in the ACLT model was lower at 8 weeks compared with the MMx group, however, it reached the same amount as the MMX group at 16 weeks.

CONCLUSION: The OA model formed by the ACLT method was better than the MMx model when degeneration and time were taken into consideration and should be used when researching drugs on an experimental basis in OA.