Abstract
Cartilage degeneration is the main pathological component of knee osteoarthritis (OA), but no effective treatment for its control exists. Although exercise can inhibit OA, the abnormal joint movement with knee OA must be managed to perform exercise. Our aims were to determine how controlling abnormal joint movement and treadmill exercise can suppress cartilage degeneration, to analyze the tissues surrounding articular cartilage, and to clarify the effect of treatment. Twelve-week-old ICR mice (n = 24) underwent anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACL-T) surgery on their right knees and were divided into three groups as follows: ACL-T, animals in the walking group subjected to ACL-T; controlled abnormal joint movement (CAJM), and CAJM with exercise (CAJM + Ex) (n = 8/group). Walking-group animals were subjected to treadmill exercise 6 weeks after surgery, including walking for 18 m/min, 30 min/day, 3 days/week for 8 weeks. Safranin-O staining, hematoxylin-eosin staining, and immunohistochemical staining were performed. The OARSI (Osteoarthritis research Society international) score was lower in the CAJM group than in the ACL-T group and was even lower in the CAJM + Ex group. The CAJM group had a lower meniscal injury score than the ACL-T group, and the CAJM + Ex group demonstrated a less severe synovitis than the ACL-T and CAJM groups. The observed difference in the perichondrium tissue damage score depending on the intervention method suggests different therapeutic effects, that normalizing joint motion can solve local problems in the knee joint, and that the anti-inflammatory effect of treadmill exercise can suppress cartilage degeneration.
Highlights
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common musculoskeletal diseases, characterized by degeneration of the articular cartilage
The mice were divided into three groups (n = 8/group) as follows: anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACL-T) group, controlled abnormal joint movement (CAJM) group, and CAJM + Ex group (Figure 1)
We examined the effect of intervention at 8 weeks in a mouse model of OA and found that cartilage degeneration was suppressed in the CAJM group through the downregulation of factors related to OA changes
Summary
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common musculoskeletal diseases, characterized by degeneration of the articular cartilage. It is a disease that develops due to the complex involvement of many factors such as aging, obesity, genetics, and mechanical stress [1,2,3,4,5], and its pathogenesis remains unclear Medication, physiotherapy, such as LLLT [6,7,8,9,10], and physical therapy, are the main conservative treatments for knee OA. With the progression of cartilage degeneration, knee OA is associated with pathological changes such as synovitis, sub-chondral bone lesions, and osteophytes, resulting in increased pain and decreased motor function Surgical treatments such as UKA (unicompartmental knee Arthroplasty) and TKA (total knee arthroplasty) are needed when the lesions are advanced, and the establishment of a treatment method is essential to improve the quality of life for patients with OA and to reduce the burden on society
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