Assessment of osteoarthritis functional outcomes and intra-articular injection volume in the rat anterior cruciate ligament transection model.

The rat surgical anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) model is commonly used to investigate intra-articular osteoarthritis (OA) therapies, and histological assessment is often the primary outcome measure. However, histological changes do not always correlate well with clinical outcomes. Therefore, this study evaluated functional outcomes in the rat surgical ACLT model and compared intra-articular injection volumes ranging from 20 to 50 μl.

Binding and lubrication of biomimetic boundary lubricants on articular cartilage.

The glycoprotein, lubricin, is the primary boundary lubricant of articular cartilage and has been shown to prevent cartilage damage after joint injury. In this study, a library of eight bottle-brush copolymers were synthesized to mimic the structure and function of lubricin. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) grafted onto a polyacrylic acid (pAA) core mimicked the hydrophilic mucin-like domain of lubricin, and a thiol terminus anchored the polymers to cartilage surfaces much like lubricin's C-terminus.