Three-dimensional quantitative morphometric analysis (QMA) allows for reproducible and sensitive assessment of bone and joint in a preclinical mouse model of osteoarthritis

Abstract

Evidence suggests that subchondral bone and whole joint structure features can be used as morphological markers associated with early-stage osteoarthritis (OA). A three-dimensional quantitative morphometric analysis (3D QMA) was previously established and demonstrated to reproducibly quantify subchondral bone and whole joint structure in small animal models. This work evaluates the reproducibility of this previously defined 3D QMA in a mouse model of OA and characterizes the osteoarthritic changes to subchondral bone and whole joint structure. Thirty-five male C57BL/10 mice aged 9 wk were recruited and divided evenly into 5 cross-sectional groups. Of these, 14 10-wk-old mice were assigned t..