Sclerostin-silenced human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells ameliorate bone metabolism in steroid-induced femoral head necrosis

Figure 6 Restoration effect of sclerostin inhibitor-silenced human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells on cancellous bone mass and microstructure in mice with steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head. A-D: Micro-computed tomography showed that the femoral head in the sham (A) group had intact morphology and dense trabecular structure. The trabecular morphology of the subchondral region of the femoral head in the SAN group (B) was significantly different from that in the sham (A) group. The trabeculae were sparsely arranged, the gaps were enlarged, and cavities appeared under the cartilage of the femoral head. The femoral head morphology, cancellous bone and trabecular structure changes in the MSCs group (C) and the sh-MSCs group (D) were improved compared with the SAN group, and the sh-MSCs group was better than the MSCs group; E-L: Trabecular thickness, bone mineral density, bone mineral content, trabecular number, trabecular spacing, bone surface area to bone volume ratio, bone volume, and bone volume fraction of femoral head of mice in each group determined by micro-computed tomography. Data represent mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. ^aP < 0.05 vs sham, ^bP < 0.01 vs sham; ^cP < 0.05 vs SAN, ^dP < 0.01 vs SAN. SAN: Steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head; MSC: Mesenchymal stem cell; Tb.Th: Trabecular thickness; BMD: Bone mineral content; BMC: Bone mineral content; Tb.Sp: Trabecular spacing; Tb.N: Trabecular number; BS/BV: Bone surface area to bone volume ratio; BV: Bone volume; BV/TV: Bone volume fraction.