Polysulphated glycosaminoglycan treatments can mitigate decreases in stiffness of articular cartilage in a traumatized animal joint

A single, blunt impact to the rabbit patellofemoral joint has been shown to decrease the stiffness of retropatellar cartilage and increase the thickness of the underlying bone. Polysulphated glycosaminoglycan treatments, on the other hand, have been shown to inhibit the degradation of articular cartilage and possibly increase synthesis of collagen and glycosaminoglycans in experimental studies on diseased joints. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of early treatments with polysulphated glycosaminoglycans on cartilage using an in vivo post-trauma animal model. The study used 24 Flemish Giant rabbits in three groups: control, impacted, and impacted with treatment. Treatment consisted of intramuscular injections the day of insult and every 4 days thereafter for 6 weeks. At 30 weeks after trauma, mechanical tests were performed on the retropatellar cartilage to determine its mechanical stiffness. The patellae were also grossly evaluated for surface lesions on the retropatellar cartilage and histologically processed to measure the thickness of the subchondral bone. The rabbits that received no treatment had a statistically significant decrease in stiffness (modulus) for the cartilage of the impacted patellae compared with that of the contralateral, unimpacted patellae and compared with the cartilage of rabbits in the control group. The degradation in mechanical stiffness, however, was not observed in patellae of rabbits in the group receiving treatment. There was also a significant increase in the underlying thickness of the subchondral plate on the impacted patellae compared with that on the contralateral, unimpacted sides for rabbits in both the treated and nontreated groups. In conclusion, the polysulphated glycosaminoglycan treatments minimized a decrease in mechanical stiffness (modulus) of retropatellar articular cartilage 30 weeks after trauma. The mechanism by which the mechanical stiffness of the cartilage was preserved is unknown.