Differential expression of connective tissue growth factor in articular cartilage in young and adult rabbits after full-thickness cartilage injury / 第三军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To approach the expression and significance of connection tissue growth factor(CTGF) in articular cartilage after full-thickness osteochondral defect on the medial femoral condyle in young and adult rabbits model.Methods Totally 25 young(at an age from 10 to 12 weeks) and 25 adult New Zealand white rabbits(at an age from 34 to 39 weeks) were randomly divided into 5 groups(n=5) ,control group,24-hour,1-week,4-week and 8-week after full-thickness cartilage injury groups.A rabbit model of spontaneous healing of full-thickness cartilage defect in the medial femoral condyle in both knees was reproduced.Macroscopic and histological morphous of repairs were observed in each age group during repair.mRNA and protein expression of CTGF were detected with RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry,respectively.Results The morphologically good repairs with hyaline-like cartilage appearance were observed in young rabbit,but formation of fibrous tissue in adult rabbit.The expression of CTGF mRNA was detected in all groups.Expression of CTGF mRNA was significantly higher in young rabbit than in adult rabbits(P