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Abstract
The right knee joint of 11 rabbits was immobilized in full extension with a splint for a period of three days. The effect of the immobilization and subsequent remobilization on plasma hyaluronan (HA) level was measured, using a sensitive radiometric HA binding protein (125I-HABP) assay. No significant effect of the immobilization on plasma HA level (54 ± 4 μg/l) was noted, but shortly (45 minutes) after splint removal, plasma hyaluronate was at its highest (91 ± 20 μg/l). One day after removal of the splint a return to baseline (53 ± 6 μg/l) was observed. It is suggested that HA may accumulate in the joint during immobilization. Shortly after removing the splint, the level of HA shows a rise in many of the rabbits, even if this is not a consistent finding, probably due to variation in the extent and kinetics of the HA mobilization. Such an accumulation of HA could be deleterious for joint tissues, since HA is an effective stimulator of interleukin-1 (also called catabolin) synthesis and secretion, and since immobilization osteoarthritis ensues in the splinted rabbit joints.