Ovariectomy alters the structural and biomechanical properties of ovine femoro-tibial articular cartilage and increases cartilage iNOS

Oestrogen depletion induced by OVX caused regional thinning of femoro-tibial cartilage, with biomechanical and histological changes suggestive of a disturbance in the content and/or structural organisation of the proteoglycan and collagen macromolecular assembly. The observed up-regulation of cartilage iNOS suggests a possible mechanism for these matrix changes.