Table 7.
Average morphometric parameters of articular cartilage (mean ± SD)
| Parameters/group and t-points | Cartilage thickness (mKm) | Chondrocytes volumetric density (%) |
Isogenic groups |
Empty lacunas |
| (% of chondrocyte sample) | ||||
| Intact control | 475.5 ± 1.31 | 9.03 ± 1.51 | 14.5 | 13.6 |
| M-group - manual distraction (1 mm/d in 4 steps) | ||||
| 28 d of distraction | 710.3 ± 7.16a | 4.13 ± 0.28a | 24.7 | 29.97 |
| 30 d of fixation | 421.1 ± 4.81a | 5.1 ± 0.27a | 20.18 | 20.85 |
| 30 d without apparatus | 416.9 ± 4.37a | 5.6 ± 0.19a | 16.1 | 21.12 |
| A-group - automatic distraction (1 mm/d in 60 steps) | ||||
| 28 d of distraction | 356.45 ± 1.55ac | 8.34 ± 0.48ac | 25.6 | 24.3 |
| 30 d of fixation | 392.7 ± 2.12ac | 6.8 ± 0.45ac | 28.8 | 16.3 |
| 30 d without apparatus | 464.6 ± 6.51c | 7.96 ± 0.37ac | 29.9 | 15.4 |
a
P < 0.05 vs intact;
c
P < 0.05 vs group M.