Effect of a single intra-articular high molecular weight hyaluronan in a naturally occurring canine osteoarthritis model: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex joint disease and chronic pain source, affecting a patient's quality of life and posing a financial burden. As the dog is considered a nearly ideal species for translation research of human OA and the most used model for research, exploring spontaneous dog OA under the One Health/One Medicine concept can improve both humans and dogs' health and well-being.

Methods: In a clinical treatment experiment, forty (N=40) joints were selected and randomly assigned to a control group (CG), which received 0.9% NaCl or a treatment (HG), which received Hylan G-F 20. Evaluations were performed on treatment day (T0), 8, 15, 30, 90, and 180 days post-treatment. They consisted of four different Clinical Metrology Instruments (CMI), evaluation of weight distribution, joint range of motion, thigh girth, radiographic and digital thermography imaging, synovial fluid interleukin-1 (IL-1), and C-reactive protein concentrations. Results were compared with repeated measures ANOVA, with a Huynh-Feldt correction, Paired samples T-test, or Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, with p<0.05.

Results: Patients had a mean age of 6.5±2.4 years and a bodyweight of 26.6±5.2kg, and joints graded as mild (n=28, 70%), moderate (n=6, 15%), and severe OA (n=6, 15%). No differences were found between groups at T0. Symmetry index and deviation showed significant improvements in HG from 30 days (p<0.01) up to 180 days (p=0.01). Several CMI scores, particularly pain scores, improved from 90 to 180 days. Radiographic signs progressed in both groups. In both groups, increasing body weight and age corresponded to worse clinical presentation. IA hyaluronan administration produced increased lameness in six cases, which resolved spontaneously.

Conclusions: This study characterizes the response to treatment with Hylan G-F 20, which can produce significant functional and pain level improvements in patients with OA, even those with factors related to worse response to treatment.