Deer bone extract suppresses articular cartilage damage induced by monosodium iodoacetate in osteoarthritic rats: an in vivo micro-computed tomography study.

We evaluated the anti-osteoarthritic effects of deer bone extract on articular cartilage damage by using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) in monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis (OA) in rats. Male Wistar rats (6 weeks of age) were randomly divided into 5 groups (10 rats/group): sham control (SC; PBS injection+PBS 1 mL treatment); negative control (NC; MIA injection+PBS 1 mL treatment); positive control (PC; MIA injection+250 mg/kg glucosamine sulfate/chondroitin sulfate mixture treatment); low dose (LDB; MIA injection+250 mg/kg deer bone extract treatment); and high dose (HDB; MIA injection+500 mg/kg deer bone extract treatment). After 50 days of treatment, we observed that the administration of deer bone extract protected against bone destruction and reduced the number of erosion lacunae. When deer bone extract was administered, the trabecular thickness distribution (Tb.Th) (LDB: 75.9 μm, HDB: 80.7 μm vs. NC: 48.0 μm) and the trabecular bone volume fraction ratio (BV/TV) (LDB: 43.8%, HDB: 48.2% vs. NC: 39.1%) were significantly restored. Additionally, the trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) increase caused by MIA was decreased significantly with the administration of deer bone extract (LDB: 73.4 μm, HDB: 81.2 μm vs. NC: 112.0 μm). We concluded that the oral administration of deer bone extract effectively relieved the morphological changes induced by MIA injection in an animal model.