Figure 1.

Schematic of the experimental protocol. The rats in the CON group (n = 5) and OA group (n = 15) were kept under normal conditions for 4 weeks, and the rats in the HS group (n = 5) and HS-OA group (n = 15) were subjected to tail suspension for 4 weeks. The rats in the OA and HS-OA groups underwent DMM surgery on their left knee and sham surgery on their right knee and were randomly assigned to 3 experimental periods (n = 5, respectively). After each experimental period, the rats were euthanized, and assessed by histological analyses. CON, control; OA, osteoarthritis; HS, hindlimb suspension; DMM, destabilization of the medial meniscus.