Early alterations in the collagen meshwork and lesions in the ankles are associated with spontaneous osteoarthritis in guinea-pigs.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate matrix changes in knee cartilage prior to development of surface disruptions and to examine the ankle for evidence of osteoarthritis (OA)-like lesions. DESIGN: Guinea-pig ankles and knees were examined histologically or viewed with polarization microscopy to reveal changes in orientation of the collagen fibers. RESULTS: The medial femoral condyles were virtually free of histologic changes at 3 months of age. Changes were present by 6 months. Medial tibial plateau histologic changes were seen at 3 months which became more pronounced with age. Alterations in the collagen meshwork corresponding to areas of proteoglycan (PG) loss were noted in animals with an intact articular surface as early as 3 months. Histologic changes were noted in the ankles as early as 3 months of age which included surface disruptions, cell loss and loss of PG staining. Only knee joint composite histology scores were significantly elevated at 3 months while both knee and ankle scores were significantly elevated at 6 months. Knee and ankle joint scores were not different from each other at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Alterations in the orientation of the collagen network of the cartilage correlated with Safranin-O loss suggesting that alterations in collagen:PG interactions play a role in the early phases of the OA process and precede frank histologic changes in the articular surface. The results in this study report for the first time OA-like lesions occurring spontaneously in articular cartilage of the ankle in the guinea-pig.