The Experimental Study Of The Effects Of Ozone Injected Intra-articular On Osteoarthritic Cartilage In Rabbits

Objective:Through the establishment of rabbit model of knee osteoarthrosis,the intra-articular injection of different concentration of medical ozone ,the detection of the concentration of RBC,ESR,SOD in the blood and the SOD concentration in the joint washing liquid, the pathogenesis of articular cartilage, the expression of MMP-1, to explorer the effect as well as the action mechanism of medical ozone on the osteoarthritic cartilage in rabbits which can get experimental proof for the clinical application of medical ozone on osteoarthritis treatment.Method:24 Healthy New Zealand white rabbits(4-5month, weighting 2.0-2.5kg,12 males and 12 females)were used. These rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups(n=6): normal control group(N), air control group (A), low dose O3 treatment group(L)and high dose O3 treatment group(H).The OA model were established by right knee intra-articular injection of 4% papain solution. A week later, 2ml of the air,25ug/ml and 50ug/ml of O3 were intra-articular injectioned in the left knee of the A, L and H group rabbits respectively on every Tuesday and Friday, 2 times a week,a total of 8 times. A week later after the last injection,the concentration of RBC,ESR and SOD in the blood drawed from the Ear-vein and the SOD in the washing liquid of the left joint were detected. The cartilage of medial tibial plateau were cut down to make into pathological sections and the pathologic slices were used for pathological studies at the 5th week after the initiation of the injection ,including morphological and histological study of cartilage in HE staining,getting the Mank's score in toluidine staining and the expression of Matrix Metalloproteinases-1(MMP-1) with immunohistochemistry .Result:(1)RBC :The number of RBC had no significant difference among the four groups(p>0.05);(2)ESR: The differences of ESR among the four groups were not statistically significant(p>0.05).(3)SOD: The differences of the content of SOD in the blood of group N, A, L and H were not statistically significant(p>0.05).The content of SOD in the washing liquid in the joint of group A,L and H were significantly higher than the N group(P<0.05); The content of SOD of groups increased by degree from group N, A, L to H,the differences among the groups were statistically significant(p<0.05).(4) visual inspection of articular cartilage: Great degeneration of cartilage of medial tibial plateau can be seen in group A, L and H. Group L, H were more serious than group A,and group H was the most serious.(5)Mankin's score: The Mankin's score of group A, L and H were significantly higher than that of group N; The scores of groups increased by degree from group A,L to H,the differences among the three groups were statistically significant(p<0.05).(6):MMP-1 expression: The expression of MMP-1 in group A, L and H were higher than group N(P<0.05). The expression of MMP-1 increased by degree from group A, L to H, the differences among the three groups were statistically significant(p<0.05).Conclusion:Repeated injection of Medical ozone to joint cavity: (1) have little effect on the number of RBC, the ESR and the content of SOD of the blood(;2)can increase the content of SOD in the joint washing liquid and the increase level of the joint washing liquid appeared to be ozone dosage dependent;(3)may have an adverse deleterious effect on OA-like articular cartilage;(4)increase the expression of MMP-1 in articular cartilage and the expression rate tended to increase as the ozone concentration increased.