Kouji Naruse, Ken Urabe, Shi-Xu Jiang, Kentaroo Uchida, Yusuke Kozai, Hiroaki Minehara, Yuko Mikuni-Takagaki, Isamu Kashima, Moritoshi Itoman
STR/ort mice develop a naturally occurring osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee joints. However, the evaluation of early OA changes has been difficult due to variability caused by gender, individual differences, and differences between the right and left lower limbs. The objective of this study was to analyze the variability of the early OA changes with age in STR/ort mice and to identify the cause of onset. A total of 115 STR/OrtCrlj mice aged 10-45 weeks were examined. In addition to conventional radiological and histological evaluation of the knee joints, histological sections were used to examine the patellofemoral, femorotibial, and growth plate cartilage under similar conditions...
2009: Connective Tissue Research