Introduction: Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder in
modern societies. Elemental boron supplementation can support the influential
effect of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D in the body. In that regard, the
purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of boron on damaged knee
joint cartilage in rats. Materials and Methods: In this study 30 adult Sprague Dawley male rats were randomly divided into five groups: Control
group with no intervention, Sham group with 50 ml saline (vehicle) injection
into the right knee joint space, Mono- sodium acetate (MIA) group with 3 mg MIA injection into articular space, prophylactic group with
3 mg MIA injection into articular space
and 15 mg/kg boron in drinking water,
receiving daily from the first day of injection and therapeutic group with
3 mg MIA injection into articular
space and 15 mg/kg boron in drinking
water, receiving daily from the third week after injection. Seven weeks after
injections, the animals were killed, right knee joint were fixated, decalcified
and processed. Five micrometer articular slides were stained with Safranin O +
Fast Green. Articular cartilage injuries were assessed in accordance with the
Modified Mankin's grading system based on the rate of articular cartilage
staining and the number of chondrocyte colonies in the articular cartilage. Results: Articular
cartilage staining, mean number of chondrocyte colonies and cartilage
chondrocytes in MIA, therapeutic and prophylactic groups significantly reduced
in compare to control. On the other hand, the degree of articular cartilage
staining, mean number of chondrocyte colonies and cartilage chondrocytes were
significantly increased in both therapeutic and prophylactic groups in compare
to MIA group (P