Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis is commonly seen in postmenopausal women. Therefore, establishing an osteoarthritis model in postmenopausal animals will contribute to the research of osteoarthritis.
OBJECTIVE: To establish a postmenopausal rat model of osteoarthritis．
METHODS: Female SD rats, aged 4 months, were randomly divided into normal control group and experimental group. The backs of experimental rats were cut open and the both ovaries were removed. The experimental rats were forced to walk in a rolling wheel for 10 minutes twice daily after the incision healed. Rats in normal control group received no treatment.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The cell layers in the articular cartilage were clear in the normal control group, and the cell shape was normal. The articular cartilage in the experimental group became thinning and degeneration. The cartilage surface became roughness and some of the surface layer lost. The cell number decreased and the cartilage cell layers became disorder. The trabecula was sparse and arranged in disorder. The femur bone mineral density in experimental group was significantly decreased compared with that in the control group (P < 0.05). It demonstrates that the osteoarthritis model is successfully established by ovariectomy and excessive exercise in postmenopausal rats.