Treatment of Osteoarthritis with Tiaprofenic Acid and Indomethacin

Cage-matched control and experimental greyhounds were sacrificed 12 weeks after production of instability in the right knee, due to anterior cruciate ligament cut. Eroded osteoarthritis and normal articular cartilage were used for the analyses. In these tissue samples, significant histological protection against cartilage breakdown was afforded by orally administered tiaprofenic acid 5 mg/kg bodyweight but not by orally administered indomethacin 1 mg/kg bodyweight. Tiaprofenic acid caused preservation of fast sedimenting proteoglycan aggregates, as well as retention of hyaluronate content and favourable proteoglycan aggregate S value levels. Biochemical data on indomethacin remain to be reported.