Figure 3
Effect of PDL on MIA-induced pathological changes on the tibiofemoral articular cartilage of the medial tibiofemoral joint. (A) Histopathology (H&E stain) of sagittal section (a, c, e, g, i) of tibiofemoral articular cartilage, with femoral condyle at the top and tibial plateau at the bottom. T = tibia. F = femur. Scale bars = 500 µm (upper row), 100 µm (lower row). (B) Chondrocytes and proteoglycan layer of tibiofemoral joint stained with Safranin O (b, d, f, h, j). Scale bars = 500 µm (upper row), 100 µm (lower row). (C) The synovial membrane with H&E staining from the red dotted box area in (A) is shown, and the black arrow indicates the synovial surface. Scale bars = 100 µm. H&E and Safranin O staining sections from each group was used for the assessment of PDL via (D) OARSI score, (E) modified Mankin score, and (F) Severity of synovitis evaluated by Synovotis scores. The data were present as the median with interquartile range. (Two observers contributed scores, n = 5, ####p < 0.0001 compared with the Sham group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.005 compared with the MIA group).
