RNA-seq of synovial membranes from a preclinical model of post-traumatic knee osteoarthritis to evaluate the effects of corticosteroid treatment

Yorkshire pigs received untreated unilateral ACL transection through a medial arthrotomy (INJ, n=6), transection with immediate injection of 20mg triamcinolone acetonide (TRI, n=6) or no surgery (CON, n=6). Synovial membranes were harvested two weeks after the injury in the lateral knee joint compartment. The whole biopsy was homogenised for RNA extraction. The objective of the experiment was to test if intraarticular corticosteroid injection mitigates injury-induced synovitis and collagen degradation after anterior cruciate ligament transection and to characterize the synovial response using the described perturbations in combination with a functional genomics approach.