Peripheral blood cell parameters in female rats with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis

Abstract

Introduction: One of the promising areas of biomedical research is the study of immune mechanisms underlying systemic manifestations of joint inflammation. Inflammatory mediators play an important role in the pathogenesis of arthritis. White blood cells—leukocytes and their subpopulations—have a significant impact on the functions of these biologically active substances. There are contradictory data in the scientific literature on the nature of changes in blood cell composition, due to methodological features of experiments performed even on the same models.

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the number of blood cells in female rats at different time periods of osteoarthritis formation in the temporomandibular joint.

Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 9 female Wistar rats. Osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint was modeled by intra-articular injection of sodium monoidate at a dose of 16 mg/kg. Peripheral blood cell parameters were assessed in female rats with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis at baseline, 24 hours after sodium monoidate injection (day 1), and on days 3, 7, 14, 21st, and 28th days of the experiment.

Results: It was found that rats injected with sodium monoiodoacetate into the temporomandibular joint showed a moderate increase in leukocytes in peripheral blood over a period of 28 days.

Conclusion: Leukocytosis under these conditions is due to an increase in the functional activity of the monocyte-lymphocyte link of the immune response both in the relatively early stages of osteoarthritis development (days 7–14) and in the late stage of the inflammatory response (day 28).