Joint Instability Causes Catabolic Enzyme Production in Chondrocytes prior to Synovial Cells in Novel Non-Invasive ACL ruptured Mouse Model

Objective The ACL-deficient model helps to clarify the mechanism of knee OA; however, the conventional ACL injury model could have included concurrent onset factors such as direct compression stress to cartilage and subchondral bone. In this study, we established a novel Non-invasive ACL-Ruptured mouse model without concurrent injuries and elucidated the relationship between OA progression and joint instability. Design We induced the ACL-Rupture non-invasively in twelve-week-old C57BL/6 male mice and evaluated histological, macroscopical, and morphological analysis at 0 days. Next, we created the ACL-R, controlled abnormal tibial translation (CATT), and Sham groups. Then, the joint stability and OA pathophysiology were analyzed at 2, 4, and 8 weeks. Results No intra-articular injuries, except for ACL rupture, were observed in the ACL-R model. ACL-R mice increased anterior tibial displacement compared to the Sham group (p<0.001, 95% CI [-1.509 to -0.966]) and CATT group (p<0.001, 95% CI [-0.841 to -0.298]) at 8 weeks. All mice in the ACL-R group caused cartilage degeneration. The degree of cartilage degeneration in the ACL-R group was higher than in the CATT group (p=0.006) at 8 weeks. The MMP-3-positive cell rate of chondrocytes increased in the ACL-R group than CATT group from 4 weeks (p=0.043; 95% CI [-28.32 to -0.364]) while that of synovial cells increased at 8 weeks (p=0.031; 95% CI [-23.398 to -1.021]). Conclusion We successfully established a Non-invasive ACL-R model without intra-articular damage. Our model revealed that chondrocytes might react to abnormal mechanical stress prior to synovial cells while the knee OA onset.