Figure 3

Intra-articular HA-DOX hydrogel injections reduced the macroscopic appearance of OA pathology. Macroscopic appearance of the articular surfaces of the femoral condyles (left panels) and the tibia plateau (right panels) of the NT (A), HA (B), DOX (C), and HA-DOX hydrogel groups (D). In addition, the femur (E) and the tibia (F) samples were examined using surgical magnifying glasses to evaluate the damage to the articular cartilage surfaces and the various parameters were scored as described in the Materials and methods. The results were compared to evaluate differences between the NT group (p < 0.05, a) and the DOX group (p < 0.05, b).