Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Feb;27(2):230-239.
doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2018.09.016. Epub 2018 Oct 25.

Models of osteoarthritis: the good, the bad and the promising

P J Cope  1 , K Ourradi  2 , Y Li  3 , M Sharif  4
Affiliations
Review

Models of osteoarthritis: the good, the bad and the promising

P J Cope et al. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2019 Feb.

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative disease of diarthrodial joints most commonly affecting people over the age of forty. The causes of OA are still unknown and there is much debate in the literature as to the exact sequence of events that trigger the onset of the heterogeneous disease we recognise as OA. There is currently no consensus model for OA that naturally reflects human disease. Existing ex-vivo models do not incorporate the important inter-tissue communication between joint components required for disease progression and differences in size, anatomy, histology and biomechanics between different animal models makes translation to the human model very difficult. This narrative review highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the current models used to study OA. It discusses the challenges of producing a more reliable OA-model and proposes a direction for the development of a consensus model that reflects the natural environment of human OA. We suggest that a human osteochondral plug-based model may overcome many of the fundamental limitations associated with animal and in-vitro models based on isolated cells. Such a model will also provide a platform for the development and testing of targeted treatment and validation of novel OA markers directly on human tissues.

Keywords: Animal-model; Osteoarthritis; Osteochondral plugs; ex-vivo model; in-vivo model.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bendele A.M. Animal models of osteoarthritis. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2001;1(4):363–376. - PubMed
    1. Kuyinu E.L., Narayanan G., Nair L.S., Laurencin C.T. Animal models of osteoarthritis: classification, update, and measurement of outcomes. J Orthop Surg Res. 2016;11:19. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amin A.K., Huntley J.S., Simpson A.H., Hall A.C. Chondrocyte survival in articular cartilage: the influence of subchondral bone in a bovine model. J Bone Joint Surg. 2009;91(5):691–699. - PubMed
    1. Fell H.B., Jubb R.W. The effect of synovial tissue on the breakdown of articular cartilage in organ culture. Arthritis & Rheumatol. 1977;20(7):1359–1371. - PubMed
    1. Heinemann C., Heinemann S., Worch H., Hanke T. Development of an osteoblast/osteoclast co-culture derived by human bone marrow stromal cells and human monocytes for biomaterials testing. Eur Cell Mater. 2011;21:80–93. - PubMed

Publication types