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Updated: Jun 18, 2026
Standardized Histomorphometric Evaluation of Osteoarthritis in a Surgical Mouse Model
Published on: May 6, 2020
Analysis of microarchitectural changes in a mouse temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis model
1University of Connecticut Health Center, Department of Craniofacial Sciences, Farmington, 06030, United States.
Objective:
Little is known about the natural progression of the disease process of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis (OA), which affects approximately 1% of the US population. The goal of this study was to examine the early microarchitectural and molecular changes in the condylar cartilage and subchondral bone in biglycan/fibromodulin (Bgn/Fmod) double-deficient mice, which develop TMJ-OA at 6 months.
Methods:
TMJs from 3-month-old (n=44) and 9-month-old (n=52) wild-type (WT n=46) and Bgn/Fmod (n=50) double-deficient mice were evaluated. Micro-CT analysis of the subchondral bone (n=24), transmission electron microscopy for condylar cartilage fibril diameters (n=26), and real-time PCR analysis for gene expression for bone and cartilage maturation markers (n=45) was performed.
Results:
A statistically significant increase in collagen fibril diameter of the condylar cartilage and a decrease in expression of Parathyroid related protein in the mandibular condylar head were observed in the 3-month Bgn/Fmod double-deficient mice compared to WT controls. The 9-month Bgn/Fmod double-deficient mouse demonstrated an increase in bone volume and total volume in subchondral bone, and an increase in the expression of Collagen Type X and Aggrecan in the mandibular condylar head compared to the WT controls.
Conclusion:
We found that changes in the microarchitecture of the condylar cartilage preceded changes in the subchondral bone during OA in the TMJ in Bgn/Fmod double-deficient mice.
