Deer bone extract suppresses articular cartilage damage induced by monosodium iodoacetate in osteoarthritic rats: An in vivo micro-computed tomography study

We evaluated the anti-osteoarthritic effects of deer bone extract on articular cartilage damage by using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) in monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis (OA) in rats. Male Wistar rats (6 weeks of age) were randomly divided into 5 groups (10 rats/group): sham control (SC; PBS injection+PBS 1mL treatment); negative control (NC; MIA injection+PBS 1mL treatment); positive control (PC; MIA injection+250mg/kg glucosamine sulfate/chondroitin sulfate mixture treatment); low dose (LDB; MIA injection+250mg/kg deer bone extract treatment); and high dose (HDB; MIA injection+500mg/kg deer bone extract treatment). After 50 days of treatment, we observed that the administration of deer bone extract protected against bone destruction and reduced the number of erosion lacunae. When deer bone extract was administered, the trabecular thickness distribution (Tb.Th) (LDB: 75.9 μm, HDB: 80.7 μm vs. NC: 48.0 μm) and the trabecular bone volume fraction ratio (BV/TV) (LDB: 43.8%, HDB: 48.2% vs. NC: 39.1%) were significantly restored. Additionally, the trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) increase caused by MIA was decreased significantly with the administration of deer bone extract (LDB: 73.4 μm, HDB: 81.2 μm vs. NC: 112.0 μm). We concluded that the oral administration of deer bone extract effectively relieved the morphological changes induced by MIA injection in an animal model.