Histopathological studies on the synovial membrane of donkey with induced chronic arthritis following ultrasound therapy and antiarthritic drug treatment

The chronic arthritis was induced in the left intercarpal joint of 12 clini cally healthy donkeys, 5-7years old, to assess the efficacy of ultrasound t herapy and antiarthritic drug treatment. They were divided into groups A, B and C of 4 animals each. Groups B and C were further treated with antiarth ritic herbal drug (ART) and ultrasound therapy (UST), respectively. The tis sue samples of the synovial membranes were subjected to histological examin ation. The synovial membrane of group A animals having induced chronic arthritis w ith no treatment showed loss of. synoviocytes, and fibrosis of subintima an d the joint capsule. The treatment with ART in group B evidenced the intima l proliferation and subintimal regenerative changes leading to nearly norma l synovial membrane. In group C following the UST @ 1.5 w/cm(2), the intima l proliferations and the mesenchymal tissue were localised but patches of d egenerative changes were present. It was concluded that chronic arthritis r esponds to both the ART and UST treatments, but the former showed better re generative changes.