Acupotomy Contributes to Suppressing Subchondral Bone Resorption in KOA Rabbits by Regulating the OPG/RANKL Signaling Pathway

Figure 4

Acupotomy intervention suppressed the expression of TRAP, MMP-9, and Ctsk in KOA subchondral bone. (a, b) TRAP staining (magnification × 400). A1: 4w control group, A2: 4w model group, A3: 4w acupotomy group, A4: 4w electroacupuncture group; B1: 6w control group, B2: 6w model group, B3: 6w acupotomy group, B4: 6w electroacupuncture group. (c, d) Immunohistochemical staining of MMP-9 (magnification × 400). C1: 4w control group, C2: 4w model group, C3: 4w acupotomy group, C4: 4w electroacupuncture group; D1: 6w control group, D2: 6w model group, D3: 6w acupotomy group, D4: 6w electroacupuncture group. (e) The analysis of TRAP-positive cells in subchondral bone. (f) Optical density values of MMP-9. (g) Real-time PCR analysis of Ctsk. Values are means ± SEMs. n = 6 per group. Compared with the corresponding control group:  < 0.05 and  < 0.01; compared with the corresponding model group: ^# < 0.05 and ^## < 0.01; compared with the corresponding electroacupuncture group: ^▲ < 0.05 and ^▲▲ < 0.01.

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