Experimental Studies On Repairing Articular Cartilage Degeneration With Glucosamine Sulphate And AFGF In Rabbits With Osteoarthritis

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the exogenous glucosamine sulphate supplement and intraarticular aFGF injection could provide a beneficial effect on the prevention of early /middle stage osteoarthritis (OA) and the effect of repairing articular cartilage degeneration.Methods: 55 adult New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into six groups. OA model was induced by severing the anterior, posterior cruciate ligaments of the knee in group A~E. 8 weeks after operation, group A (n=10) and B (n=10) were received intraarticular injection with aFGF 8000 IU and hyaluronan 0.4 ml per week respectively. Glucosamine sulphate 500mg per day were administered to group C (n=10). The group D received no treatment. Sham operation was performed on group F (n=5). The animals of group E were sacrificed ninth week and the others seventeenth weeks following surgery. The gross morphological condition was observed and grade of cartilage surface was evaluated with surgical microscope according to arthroscope grade method. Specimens were taken from the weight-bearing portion of the femoral condylar and were examined histologically and graded with HHGS. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the proliferation of chondrocytes in the group C and D.Results: The finding of histological study showed that there are more and less degenerative changes of OA in group A~E. No degenerative changes occurred in group F. Surgical microscopic results of cartilage surface showed significant difference among each group. The grades of HHGS were lower in group A, B, C and E than in group D(P<0.05). But there are no obvious difference between group A and group B (F>0.05) , neither between group B and group C(P>0.05). The chondrocytes proliferative index was obviously higher in group C than in group D (P=0.004) by immunohistochemical method.Conclusion: The method of severing the anerior, posterior cruciate ligaments of the knee can successfully induce the early/middle stage model of OA. Glucosamine sulphate can prevent the development of OA pathologic process effectively and shows some better action of repair cartilage damage by stimulating chondrocytes proliferation and protecting cartilage matrix. aFGF can provide a beneficial effect on the protecting cartilage and repairing articular cartilage degeneration.