Effect of experimental smoking demonstrated in articular cartilage of albinorats

Thirty-six adult albino rats 2-3 months old were used in this study, 30 of them were subjected to a daily heavy tobacco inhalation for three months in a dose equivalent to 1 mg nicotine/kg b. w./day and the remaining 6 rats were left as controls. Knee paraffin sections were prepared after sacrificing the rats, stained with H and E and Masson's trichrome. A morphometric analysis was done using an image analyzer with an optical magnification of X400 on routine H and E sections. It was concluded that the experimental heavy smoking in albino rats had a deleterious effect on the integrity of articular cartilage leading to a severe proliferation in addition to an increased water content of collagen matrix which is known to precede degeneration