Investigation of Lake Hévíz Mineral Water Balneotherapy and Hévíz Mud Treatment in Murine Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Models

Figure 9

Representative pictures and histopathological changes of the knee joints in CFA-induced rheumatoid arthritis. Representative slides stained with Safranin O of (a) an intact tibiotarsal joint (ti: tibia, ta: tarsus, and sy: synovium), (c) tap water-treated, (d), tap water+sand-treated, (e) Hévíz water, and (f) Hévíz water+mud-treated mouse knee obtained on day 20 (100 × magnification). (b) Semiquantitative scores obtained on the basis of structure, cartilage condition, area of erosion, synovial hyperplasia, synovial inflammatory cells infiltration, and osteophyte formation (due to van der Kraan et al. 1989). Box plots represent medians of composite scores for n = 6–8 mice/group; p < 0.001 (versus respective contralateral joint); Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s posttest.