Effects of cold stress changes on subchondral bone and cartilage of tibial knee joint in rats and molecule related to hypothermia and arthritis

Forty eight-week-old male SD-rats were randomly divided into four groups: control group (4 weeks), hypothermia group (4 weeks), control group (8 weeks) and hypothermia group (8 weeks). The hypothermia group was fed at 4±2℃, and the normal group was fed at 25±2℃. After 4 weeks and 8 weeks, Micro-CT and saffron solid green staining were performed to observe the conditions of subchondral bone and cartilage. At 4 weeks, rat subchondral bone tissue was cut for second generation high-throughput sequencing, differential gene screening and gene enrichment analysis, and PCR validation.