Osteoarthritis [OA] is a chronic degenerative joint disease and a leading cause of adult disability. It is characterized by damage of the articular cartilage and Synovitis.(1) The prevalence of OA is 18% and 10% in females and males respectively.(2) It is expected that, 20 % of adults in Western Europe and North America will have OA by 2030.(3) OA risk factors of OA depend on hormonal status, gender, genetics and abnormal biomechanical loading on joints - obesity, and joint injury.(4) An inflammatory stimuli, initiates the pathophyscology of OA , inflammatory cytokines breakdown the cartilage extracellular matrix by tissue proteinases, enzymes. (5)
Pain is the clinical hallmark of the disease, other clinical features such as …show more content…
Louis, MO, USA) through the infrapatellar ligament of the left knee (group II and II) .(13) MIA was dissolved in physiologic saline solution and administered in a volume of 50 μl using a 27-gauge, 0.5-inch needle.(11) Group I had intra-articular injection by saline only.
2.3 Biochemical analysis
Rats were anaesthetized with Thiopental.(14) The left limb of the rat were flexed over a 20 ml glass vial, then 23-gauge needle was inserted, and the limb was secured in place with tape. Sterile saline was infused intra-articularlly. After infusion of 100 μl of saline, the outflow fluid was aspirated after 2 minutes. Synovial fluid was infused and withdrawn at a constant rate until a 400 μl basal sample was collected in a 1.5 ml centrifuge tube. Samples were immediately centrifuged, and the supernatant were collected and frozen at -20°C (15). IL-1β (BMS630 , eBioscience, Inc. Vienna , Austria) , MMP-13 (SCA099Ra Uscn Life Science Inc, Houston, USA), and COMP (SEB197Ra, Uscn Life Science Inc Houston, USA) levels were measured in the synovial fluid by ELISA kits.(16, …show more content…
The knee joint was fixed in 10% buffered formalin, decalcified in hydrochloric acid (CalciClear Rapid; National Diagnostics, Atlanta, GA), and embedded in paraffin. Sections (10μm in thickness) were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E).
2.5 Statistical analysis
The IL-1b ,COMP , MMP-13 levels were tabulated and analyzed statistically by one way ANOVA. While weight, knee diameter and knee bending score were tabulated and analyzed statistically using repeated measures ANOVA test. The level of significant was < 0.05.
3. Results
The present study was carried evaluates the chondroprotective effect of L-carnitine in a rat model of osteoarthritis, by assessing the animal weight, knee diameter, knee arthritis score, knee bending score, synovial level of IL-1β , MMP-13 and COMP, as well as the histological findings of knee joint.
3.1 BIOCHEMICAL MARKERS 3.1.1 IL-1β level
There was no significant difference in IL-1β level over all the groups (p =