ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of intra-articular hyaluronan(HA)injection on the expression of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein(COMP)in synovium of strenuous running rats,and investigate the possibility of predicting the effectiveness of HA based on COMP in synovium.Methods 36 healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group,strenuous running group and strenuous running group and HA injection group.Strenuous running group and HA injection group were intra- articularly injected with HA once a week for 5 consecutive weeks.The histological changes of synovium of knee joint was examined by H.E.staining and immunohistochemical expression of COMP in three groups after 6 weeks' strenuous running.Results Synovial inflammation was less severe in strenuous running and HA injection group than strenuous running group(t =7.15,P ＜0.01).The immunohistochemical expression of COMP in rats'synovium of knee joint in strenuous running and HA injection group was significantly lower than that in rats'synovium in strenuous running group(t = 6.30,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Intra- articular HA injection suppressed synovitis,and the expression of COMP in synovium could be used to predict the effectiveness of HA.