Figure 4.

Pharmacologic cholesterol inhibition attenuates osteoarthritic (OA) changes in mice. Representative histologic sections show hematoxylin and eosin staining of the knee joints of 4‐month‐old mice after implantation with a slow‐release placebo (top panels) or statin pellet (bottom panels). Methods for inducing OA included Gli transcriptional activation by hedgehog signaling (Col2a1‐Gli2), cholesterol accumulation (Insig1 double‐knockout [InsigDKO]), or both (Col2a1‐Gli2;InsigDKO), as well as surgical excision of the medial meniscus (+ surgery) in either control or InsigDKO mice. Arrows indicate hypertrophic chondrocytes and cartilage fibrillation in placebo‐treated mice. Bars = 100 μm.