Abstract
BackgroundOsteoarthritis (OA) is a clinically important and common disease of older cats. The pathological changes and molecular mechanisms which underpin the disease have yet to be described. In this study we evaluated selected histological and transcriptomic measures in the articular cartilage and subchondral bone (SCB) of the humeral condyle of cats with or without OA.ResultsThe histomorphometric changes in humeral condyle were concentrated in the medial aspect of the condyle. Cats with OA had a reduction in articular chondrocyte density, an increase in the histopathological score of the articular cartilage and a decrease in the SCB porosity of the medial part of the humeral condyle. An increase in LUM gene expression was observed in OA cartilage from the medial part of the humeral condyle.ConclusionsHistopathological changes identified in OA of the feline humeral condyle appear to primarily affect the medial aspect of the joint. Histological changes suggest that SCB is involved in the OA process in cats. Differentiating which changes represent OA rather than the aging process, or the effects of obesity and or bodyweight requires further investigation.
Highlights
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a clinically important and common disease of older cats
Awareness of OA and degenerative joint disease (DJD) in the feline population has increased in recent years [2] and a high radiographic prevalence of OA and DJD has been observed in general cat populations [3,4,5]
Transcriptomic features of feline OA have not been correlated with gross or radiographic features, previously, the aim of this study was to report a preliminary description of the histological features and transcriptomic changes in the articular cartilage and subchondral bone (SCB) of the humeral condyle in populations of cats with or without naturally occurring OA
Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a clinically important and common disease of older cats. The pathological changes and molecular mechanisms which underpin the disease have yet to be described. The development of clefts, the loss of proteoglycan, changes in cellularity and the loss of tidemark integrity of articular cartilage of OA joints are features which characterise the disease [10] and which can be used to grade its severity. These features are not species specific, grading schemes such as the Mankin Histological and Histochemical Grading System (HHGS) [10] have been used to record the severity of the disease in many different species. Recognition of concurrent changes in other articular tissues such as synovium [11] and subchondral bone (SCB) [12,13] has led to the widespread appreciation that OA is a disease which affects all the tissues in a joint
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