The anterior cruciate ligament transection-induced post-traumatic osteoarthritis rabbit model shows very early and progressive subchondral bone deterioration in all the knee locations. Proteoglycan (PG) loss is progressive in the femoral condyles, but in the medial tibial plateau, femoral groove and patella, there is a very early loss of PG followed by partly recovery. The tibial plateaus seem to be sensitive to changes in the bone morphology, while the femoral condyles are more sensitive to the composition changes of articular cartilage.

We investigated the effects of a biopsy of the epiphyseal plate in 3-month old lambs. A 4.2 mm biopsy sample was captured in the proximal tibiae and distal femora physes. The lambs were monitored for 12- and 24-week. The data demonstrated no signs of angular deformities following a 4.2 mm biopsy of the physis. Bone growth/elongation was confirmed by computed tomography, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and fluorochrome analyses. This investigation demonstrated that a small biopsy of the epiphyseal plate can be obtained safely for diagnostic purposes.