Evaluation of the effects of intra-articular injection of dimethylsulfoxide on normal equine articular tissues.

The study investigates the impact of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) injected directly into the joint tissues of horses. It concludes that this treatment doesn’t appear to adversely affect joint inflammation, leukocyte counts, protein content, or cartilage degradation in horses, thereby pointing to DMSO’s potential as a safe therapeutic option.

Method and Experiment Groups

• The researchers enlisted seven adult horses which were divided into two groups (four in group A and three in group B). Each horse was deemed to be clinically normal.
• Right antebrachial carpal and middle carpal joints were administered with a 2 ml solution consisting of 40% percentage DMSO in lactated Ringer solution. The left forelimb joints served as the controls and were instead injected with lactated Ringer solution.
• Two samples of synovial fluid were collected from group A horses before the DMSO injection, after 24 hours, and then after 72 hours, totaling three injections. Following the injections, the horses were euthanized and samples from the synovial fluid, synovial membrane, and articular cartilage were taken.
• The experiment procedure was duplicated for the horses in group B with the inclusion of a one-week interval between each series of injections.

Observations and Results

• After evaluating the horses clinically, researchers found no evidence of inflammation in the carpal (wrist) area connected with any injections in either of the groups.
• The analysis of synovial fluid from joints that were injected with DMSO and the control groups revealed insignificant differences in the leukocyte counts and total protein content.
• The researchers found no visible signs of degradation in cartilage, examined at a gross, histologic, and histochemical level in any of the joints.
• There was no observable difference noted in glycosaminoglycan content (a compound critical for the structural integrity of cartilage) in the articular cartilage between joints that were treated with DMSO or lactated Ringer solution.

Conclusions

• The study thereby indicates that intra-articular injections of DMSO appear not to result in significant negative effects on equine joint tissues in the conditions tested.
• These findings suggest that DMSO could potentially serve as a safe therapeutic agent for use directly in joint tissues.