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Extracorporeal shockwave therapy shows chondroprotective effects in osteoarthritic rat knee

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Abstract

Purpose

This study investigated the effects of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) on the subchondral bone and articular cartilage in the initiation of osteoarthritis of the knee in rats.

Methods

Anterior cruciate ligament transected (ACLT) osteoarthritis (OA) rat knee model was used in this study. Twenty-seven male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups. The control group underwent sham surgery without ACLT and received no ESWT. The ACLT group underwent ACLT, but received no ESWT. The ACLT plus ESWT group underwent ACLT and received ESWT immediately after surgery. The evaluation parameters included radiograph, bone mineral density, serum levels of cartilage oligometric protein and osteocalcin, and urinary concentration of C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II), and histomorphological examination.

Results

At 12 weeks, OA of the knee was radiographically verified in the ACLT group, but very subtle changes were noticed in the control and the ACLT plus ESWT groups. On articular cartilage, the ACLT group showed significant increases in cartilage degradation and chondrocyte apoptosis compared to the control and ACLT plus ESWT groups. The ACLT plus ESWT group demonstrated significant decrease in the cartilage degradation and an increase in chondrocyte activity comparable to the control. In subchondral bone, the ACLT group showed a significant decrease in bone remodeling as compared to the control and ACLT plus ESWT groups. The ACLT plus ESWT group showed significant improvement in bone remodeling comparable to the control.

Conclusion

Extracorporeal shockwave therapy shows chondroprotective effect associated with improvement in subchondral bone remodeling in the initiation of ACLT OA knee model in rats.

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Acknowledgments

Funds were received in total or partial support for the research presented in this article. The funding source was from National Science Council (NSC-97-2314-B-182A-106).

Conflict of interest

The authors declared that they did not receive any honoraria or consultancy fees in writing this manuscript. One author (CJW) had served as a member of the scientific advisory committee of Sanuwave until November 2010. The remaining authors declared no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Section of Sports Medicine, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 123 Ta-Pei Road, Niao Sung Hsian, Kaohsiung, 833, Taiwan

    Ching-Jen Wang, Lin-Hsiu Weng & Jih-Yang Ko

  2. Department of Medical Research, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Yi-Chih Sun, Ya-Ju Yang & Feng-Sheng Wang

Authors
  1. Ching-Jen Wang
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  2. Lin-Hsiu Weng
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  3. Jih-Yang Ko
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  4. Yi-Chih Sun
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Correspondence to Ching-Jen Wang.

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Wang, CJ., Weng, LH., Ko, JY. et al. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy shows chondroprotective effects in osteoarthritic rat knee. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 131, 1153–1158 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-011-1289-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-011-1289-2

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