Avaliação do uso do hormônio do crescimento recombinante humano na ATM de coelhos com osteoartrite induzida

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is a slowly progressive degenerative disease affecting several joints of the human body, including the TMJ. Tissue engineering has advanced to reduce osteochondral defects and to regenerate the TMJ. Nineteen rabbits were used in the present study. Eighteen of them had the articular discs of the TMJ removed in order to induce osteoarthritis. The animals were divided into three groups of six rabbits: group A - five rabbits treated with injections of rhGH (0.5 IU/kg) in the right joint and NaCl (0.9%) in the left joint in 14 days; group B - five rabbits received injections of rhGH (0.5 IU/kg) in the right joint and NaCl (0.9%) in the left joint in 14 and 21 days; and group C - five rabbits underwent injections of rhGH (0.5 IU/kg) in the right joint and NaCl (0.9%) in the left joint in 14, 21, and 28 days. The sixth rabbit of each group was the control and did not receive injections. The 19th rabbit was used as a normal TMJ control and did not undergo surgery. The animals were evaluated using cone beam computed tomography and histological examination. CT showed that the joints treated with three injections of 0.9% NaCl and the control group had higher rates of osteoarthritis (p < 0.05). Histological analysis revealed that the joints treated with rhGH had higher tissue cellularity and thickness in group A, whereas the joints treated with rhGH and NaCl (0.9%) had high tissue cellularity and thickness in group B than in the control group. There was no statistical difference in terms of degree of severity of osteoarthritis.