Comparative anatomy and morphology of the knee in translational models for articular cartilage disorders. Part I: Large animals.

Background: The human knee is a complex joint, and affected by a variety of articular cartilage disorders. Large animal models are critical to model the complex disease mechanisms affecting a functional joint. Species-dependent differences highly affect the results of a pre-clinical study and need to be considered, necessitating specific knowledge not only of macroscopic and microscopic anatomical and pathological aspects, but also characteristics of their individual gait and joint movements.

Comparative anatomy and morphology of the knee in translational models for articular cartilage disorders. Part II: Small animals.

Background: Small animal models are critical to model the complex disease mechanisms affecting a functional joint leading to articular cartilage disorders. They are advantageous for several reasons and significantly contributed to the understanding of the mechanisms of cartilage diseases among which osteoarthritis.

Methods: Literature search in Pubmed.