Establishment and evaluation of a rat model of arthritis-hypertension disease / 中国比较医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To establish and evaluate a rat model presenting symptoms of arthritis-hypertension disease (AHD).Methods A total of forty healthy 5-6 week-old male SD rats were used in this study.Hypertension was induced by constriction of the left renal artery by two kidney one clip (2K1C) with a 0.25 mm silver clamp, and AHD model was established by injecting 0.1 mL complete Freund adjuvant to the left hind paw.Tail artery pressure was measured with a non-invasive blood pressure measurement system.The degree of swelling in the non-inflammatory joint of rats was measured with a paw volume measuring instrument, the arthritis index and incidence of inflammation were evaluated.The rats were sacrificed on the 35th day.The thoracic aorta, ankle joint and spleen tissues were examined by pathology using HE staining.Results The joint of AHD model rat was significantly swollen, extensive synovial cell hyperplasia, inflammatory cell infiltration, vascular pannus formation, and bone and cartilage destruction.The number of germinal centers in spleen was increased, and a large number of lymphocyte infiltration, diffuse proliferation of white pulp, and red pulp infiltration were present.The arthritis index, incidence of inflammation and histopathological scores of the joint and spleen were significantly higher than adjuvant arthritis (AA) rats;meanwhile, the blood pressure of AHD model rat was significantly increased, the thickness and cross-sectional area of thoracic aorta were significantly increased, while the lumen diameter was significantly reduced.The blood pressure and vascular injury were significantly increased or aggravated compared with the HT rats.Conclusions A rat model of arthritis-hypertension disease is successfully established by using complete Freund adjuvant intradermal injection to the footpad and surgery to narrow the left renal artery.