Effects of selenium and iodine deficiency on bone, cartilage growth plate and chondrocyte differentiation in two generations of rats 1

SummaryObjectiveThe purpose of the current study was to investigate the roles of combined selenium and iodine deficiency in bone development as a possible experimental model of Kashin-Beck osteoarthropathy.MethodsSprague–Dawley rats (n = 48) were randomly divided into selenium deficiency (−Se+I), iodine deficiency (+Se−I), combined selenium and iodine deficiency (−Se−I), and selenium and iodine sufficient (+Se+I) groups. Growth of bone and cartilage, and the expression of type X collagen (ColX) and parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) were measured in two generations of rats (F0 and F1).ResultsThe tibial length in −Se−I rats was significantly shorter in F1 generation. In +Se−I of F1 rats, the thickness of the growth plate cartilage, and the proliferative zone was smaller, while in −Se−I rats the growth plate, and the proliferative and hypertrophic zones were also thinner in F1 generation. In articular cartilage, ColX expression was increased in the deep zone in −Se−I rats of F0 generation, and in −Se+I, +Se−I and −Se−I rats of F1 generation. PTHrP expression was increased in the middle zone of −Se+I, +Se−I and −Se−I rats of both F0 and F1 generations. In the growth plate cartilage, ColX and PTHrP were expressed in the hypertrophic zone. ColX expression was significantly weaker in −Se+I and −Se−I rats in both F0 and F1 generations, while PTHrP expression was stronger in −Se+I, +Se−I and −Se−I rats in both F0 and F1 animals.ConclusionsCombined selenium and iodine deficiency impaired the growth of bone and cartilage. The changes in the expression of ColX and PTHrP induced by combined selenium and iodine deficiency were compatible to measurements of ColX and PTHrP in Kashin-Beck osteoarthropathy.