RESUMO
[Objective]To assess whether calcitonin exerts an chondroprotective action in unstable knees which induce experimental osteoarthritis.[Method]Twenty 6-month New Zealand rabbits were divided into two groups randomly.All rabbits underwent anterior cruciate ligament transection(ACLT) on the right knee.Rabbits of experimental group began to receive a daffy subcutaneous injection of salmon calcitonin at a dose of 5 IU per kg of body weight on day 7 postsurgery;in contrast,control group received normal saline(NS) at the same dose.All rabbits were killed on day 42 postsurgery.The knee joints were examined grossly and histologically and scored;the medial condyle sections were stained with Safranin O and immunohistochemistry of collagen II.We applied a computer graphic technology to assess the glycosaminoglycans(GAG) and collagen II of articular cartilage.[Result](1) In control group,compared uninjured knee joints with operative knee joints,the appearance of operative knee joints accorded with OA and histologic score of operative knee joints were higher than that of uninjured knee joints,P