Abstract
The rheological properties of synovial fluid (SF) are largely attributed to the presence of high molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HA). In normal SF, HA has been shown to be an anti-inflammatory molecule able to increase the viscosity and promote endogenous production of HA. The aim of the present report was to investigate the possible effect of HA concentration in rheological properties (elastic modulus, G´ and viscous modulus, G´´) of osteoarthritic equine SF. For this purpose, SF from intercarpal, metacarpophalangeal and distal interphalangeal joint was aspirated by aseptic arthrocentesis from 60 Warmblood horses. For determining HA concentrations in equine SF samples, a commercially available ELISA kit was used. Additionally, full rheological sample characterization was carried out with an AR-G2 rheometer (TA Instruments Ltd., UK) in order to measure the elastic G´ and viscous G´´ moduli, at horse's body (37.5 ºC) temperature. The ANOVA findings revealed statistically significant main effects of the factors Joint Type (p = 0.001), and main effects of covariates Age (p = 0.019) and HA (p < 0.001) on the mean values of logG” and logG' measurements. Interpreting the coefficients of the covariate HA, a positive correlation of HA was detected on the response logG” and logG' measurements. Collectively, these data illustrate the role of HA in equine pathological SF.
