Early Alterations in the Collagen Network of Guinea Pig Knees and Lesions in Theankles Are Associated with Spontaneous Osteoarthritis

disability in the world. One approach to the study of the disease has been through animal models. “Quick models” are used to answer disease-specific questions and study surrogate markers of joint disease, but may not manifest all aspects of the disease process. Actual disease models include mechanical destabilization of the joint or animal models in which OA is a spontaneously occurring disease. Male Hartley albino guinea pigs have been reported to develop focal lesions on the medial tibial plateau as early as 3 months of age. Little is known about degenerative changes in other joints or matrix changes that precede histologic evidence of lesions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate extracellular matrix changes in the knee joint cartilage prior to development of frank histologic lesions and to examine the ankle joint for evidence of OA-like lesions.