Skip to main content
PMC home page
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1977 Feb;36(1):74–79. doi: 10.1136/ard.36.1.74

Effect of intra-articular corticosteroid injections on primate cartilage.

T Gibson, H C Burry, D Poswillo, J Glass
PMCID: PMC1006634  PMID: 402890

Abstract

An attempt was made to ascertain whether intra-articular corticosteroids exert a harmful effect on primate cartilage. The knee joints of 10 Macaca irus monkeys were subjected to either one, two, or six injections of 20 mg methyl prednisolone or an equal number of control injections over a 12-week period. Minor degenerative changes of many femoral condyles were shown by India ink staining and by a system of histochemical grading. Changes in the joints injected with corticosteroid were not significantly different from those seen in control joints. The findings were in striking contrast to the severe degeneration reported by others in rabbit joints injected with corticosteroid. The experiment did not support the contention that intra-articular corticosteroids invariably have a deleterious effect on primate cartilage.

Full text

PDF
74

Images in this article

75Image
on p.75
75Image
on p.75
76Image
on p.76

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alarcón-Segovia D., Ward L. E. Marked destructive changes occurring in osteoarthric finger joints after intra-articular injection of corticosteroids. Arthritis Rheum. 1966 Jun;9(3):443–463. doi: 10.1002/art.1780090309. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Anastassiades T., Dziewiatkowski D. The effect of cortisone on the metabolism of connective tissues in the rat. J Lab Clin Med. 1970 May;75(5):826–839. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bentley G., Goodfellow J. W. Disorganisation of the knees following intra-articular hydrocortisone injections. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1969 Aug;51(3):498–502. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bullough P., Goodfellow J. The significance of the fine structure of articular cartilage. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1968 Nov;50(4):852–857. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. CHANDLER G. N., JONES D. T., WRIGHT V., HARTFALL S. J. Charcot's arthropathy following intra-articular hydrocortisone. Br Med J. 1959 Apr 11;1(5127):952–953. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5127.952. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. CHANDLER G. N., WRIGHT V. Deleterious effect of intra-articular hydrocortisone. Lancet. 1958 Sep 27;2(7048):661–663. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(58)92262-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. DENKO C. W., BERGENSTAL D. M. Effects of growth hormone and corticosteroids on S35 fixation in cartilage. Endocrinology. 1961 Oct;69:769–777. doi: 10.1210/endo-69-4-769. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. HOLDEN G., KENDALL P. H. The newer corticosteroids for local injection. Ann Phys Med. 1961 Nov;6:178–182. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/6.4.178. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hollander J. L. Intrasynovial corticosteroid therapy in arthritis. Md State Med J. 1970 Mar;19(3):62–66. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Keagy R. D., Keim H. A. Intra-articular steroid therapy: repeated use in patients with chronic arthritis. Am J Med Sci. 1967 Jan;253(1):45–51. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. LAYTON L. L. Effect of cortisone upon chondroitin sulfate synthesis by animal tissues. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1951 Mar;76(3):596–598. doi: 10.3181/00379727-76-18571. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. MATTHEWS B. F. Composition of articular cartilage in osteoarthritis; changes in collagen/chondroitin-sulphate ratio. Br Med J. 1953 Sep 19;2(4837):660–661. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.4837.660. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mankin H. J., Conger K. A. The acute effects of intra-articular hydrocortisone on articular cartilage in rabbits. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1966 Oct;48(7):1383–1388. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mankin H. J., Dorfman H., Lippiello L., Zarins A. Biochemical and metabolic abnormalities in articular cartilage from osteo-arthritic human hips. II. Correlation of morphology with biochemical and metabolic data. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1971 Apr;53(3):523–537. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mankin H. J., Lippiello L. The glycosaminoglycans of normal and arthritic cartilage. J Clin Invest. 1971 Aug;50(8):1712–1719. doi: 10.1172/JCI106660. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mankin H. J., Zarins A., Jaffe W. L. The effect of systemic corticosteroids on rabbit articular cartilage. Arthritis Rheum. 1972 Nov-Dec;15(6):593–599. doi: 10.1002/art.1780150605. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. McCLUSKEY R. T., THOMAS L. The removal of cartilage matrix in vivo by papain; prevention of recovery with cortisone, hydrocortisone and prednisoione by a direct action on cartilage. Am J Pathol. 1959 Jul-Aug;35(4):819–833. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Meachim G., Fergie I. A. Morphological patterns of articular cartilage fibrillation. J Pathol. 1975 Apr;115(4):231–240. doi: 10.1002/path.1711150408. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Moskowitz R. W., Davis W., Sammarco J., Mast W., Chase S. W. Experimentally induced corticosteroid arthropathy. Arthritis Rheum. 1970 May-Jun;13(3):236–243. doi: 10.1002/art.1780130304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Poswillo D. Experimental investigation of the effects of intra-articular hydrocortisone and high condylectomy on the mandibular condyle. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol. 1970 Aug;30(2):161–173. doi: 10.1016/0030-4220(70)90355-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Rehder E., Enquist I. F. Species differences in response to cortisone in wounded animals. Arch Surg. 1967 Jan;94(1):74–78. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1967.01330070076016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. STEINBERG C. L., DUTHIE R. B., PIVA A. E. Charcot-like arthropathy following intra-articular hydrocortisone. JAMA. 1962 Sep 8;181:851–854. doi: 10.1001/jama.1962.03050360037007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. SWEETNAM D. R., MASON R. M., MURRAY R. O. Steroid arthropathy of the hip. Br Med J. 1960 May 7;1(5183):1392–1394. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5183.1392. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Salter R. B., Gross A., Hall J. H. Hydrocortisone arthropathy--an experimental investigation. Can Med Assoc J. 1967 Aug 19;97(8):374–377. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Scott J. E., Dorling J. Differential staining of acid glycosaminoglycans (mucopolysaccharides) by alcian blue in salt solutions. Histochemie. 1965 Oct 1;5(3):221–233. doi: 10.1007/BF00306130. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Silberberg M., Silberberg R., Hasler M. Fine structure of articular cartilage in mice receiving cortisone acetate. Arch Pathol. 1966 Dec;82(6):569–582. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Stockwell R. A. Changes in the acid glycosaminoglycan content of the matrix of ageing human articular cartilage. Ann Rheum Dis. 1970 Sep;29(5):509–515. doi: 10.1136/ard.29.5.509. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Stockwell R. A., Scott J. E. Distribution of acid glycosaminoglycans in human articular cartilage. Nature. 1967 Sep 23;215(5108):1376–1378. doi: 10.1038/2151376a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. WRIGHT V., CHANDLER G. N., MORISON R. A., HARTFALL S. J. Intra-articular therapy in osteo-arthritis; comparison of hydrocortisone acetate and hydrocortisone tertiary-butylacetate. Ann Rheum Dis. 1960 Sep;19:257–261. doi: 10.1136/ard.19.3.257. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Zachariae L. Deleterious effects of corticosteroids administered topically, in particular intra-articularly. Acta Orthop Scand. 1965;36(2):127–136. doi: 10.3109/17453676508989379. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES