未成熟関節における周期的静水圧の影響

抄録

As the number of people suffering from Osteoarthritis (OA), which is disease in synovial joint, is increased, the progression of regenerated medicine becomes more important. However, regenerated tissue which can cure OA effectively is not made yet due to the lack of understanding about the development of synovial joint. Synovial joint is formed through the process that chondrocytes in the center of the joint tissue become hypertrophic and the joint tissue undergoes endochondral ossification where the cartilaginous matrix is mineralized into bone tissue. Mechanical stimulation, such as cyclic hydrostatic pressure (CHP), is hypothesized to be involved in this process because chondrocyte tends to respond to mechanical stimuli and CHP is applied on the joint by walk. In this study, we isolated synovial joints from juvenile rats and applied CHP in vitro to examine its effect on joint maturation. By analyzing the gene expressions of chondrocytes in synovial joints, we observed that CHP can accelerate endochondral ossification.