Construction of a rabbit model of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head by combining different concentrations of glucocorticoids with horse serum / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Glucocorticoid has been shown to be a major factor of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH), so constructing a reliable, effective and low mortality ONFH model will be helpful for searching for a better treatment strategy of ONFH.OBJECTIVE: To construct a rabbit model of early ONFH by intravenous injection of different concentrations of glucocorticoids and horse serum.METHODS: Thirty healthy male New Zealand rabbits were randomly allotted to six groups, followed by given the injection of 10 mg/kg horse serum combined with 5 mg/kg dexamethasone (group A), 10 mg/kg horse serum combined with 10 mg/kg dexamethasone (group B), 20 mg/kg horse serum combined with 5 mg/kg dexamethasone (group C), 20 mg/kg horse serum combined with 10 mg/kg dexamethasone (group D), 10 mg/kg dexamethasone (group E), and 2 mL/kg normal saline (control group) via ear veins, respectively.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Abnormal MRI signal of the femoral head appeared in the group D at postoperative 2 weeks, while abnormal signal was seen at postoperative 4 weeks in the other groups except the controls. Six weeks postoperatively, 80% rabbits in the group D showed abnormal signals, which were significantly more than those in the groups C (50%), B (40%), A (25%), and E (20%) (P < 0.05). The serum levels of triglyceride and total cholesterol in the groups A, B, C, D were significantly higher than those in the control group at 3, 7, 14 and 30 days after injection (P <0.05). Compared with the control group, the ratio of empty lacuna sigmificantly increased in the group D (P < 0.05).These results indicate that the injection of high concentration of horse serum combined with the high concentration of dexamethasone is successful and safe to make an animal model of early ONFH.