Effect Of Calcitonin On Articular Cartilage And Subchondral Bone In Rat Experimental Osteoarthritis

Objective To assess calcitonin, a inhibitor of bone resorption, on cartilage and subchondral bone in the rat anterior cruciate ligament transaction model, and assess the role of subchondral bone in the etiology of osteoarthritis( OA).Method The rat anterior cruciate ligament transaction model was established. The rats were divided in two groups, the group ACLT, and group ACLT+CT. Group sham was set up for control. After operation, rats in group ACLT+CT received subcutaneous injection of calcitonin every other day for the following 6 weeks. The same dose of normal saline was injected in group ACLT and group sham. All rats were necropsied at 10 weeks. Paraffin sections were prepared. Toluidine blue stain and collagenâ…¡immunohistochemistry stain was performed to assess the contents of proteoglycan and collagenâ…¡. HE stain was used for subchondral bone histomorphometric analysis.Result Toluidine blue stain, collagenâ…¡immunohistochemistry stain and bone histomorphometric analysis indicated that compared with group sham, there was proteoglycan and collagenâ…¡loss in group ACLT. Increased subchondral bone formation and subchondral bone sclerosis was observed. Subcutaneous injection of calcitonin on early stage suppressed increased subchondral bone formation on advanced stage of OA rats, and reduced loss of proteoglycan and collagenâ…¡loss simultaneously.Conclusion Subchondral bone plays an important role in the pathogenesis of OA. Calcitonin could potentially be used for the treatment of OA.