Biomechanical effect of hyaluronidase on rabbit auricular cartilage

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the biomechanical effectiveness of hyaluronidase (HAase) on rabbit auricular cartilage in the early stage. Methods HAase in 3 different concentrations (75 U/ml, 150 U/ml, 300 U/ml) were injected subcutaneously to rabbit auricle in 3 groups, while normal saline were injected as control. For the comparison of biomechanism properties among different groups and different time, cartilages were harvested at 3rd and 7th day after injection, followed by stress-relaxation assay. Results Auricular cartilage displayed different levels in control group compared with other groups in elastic modulus (P<0.05) and maxmum stress (P<0.05) in 3th day as well as 7th day. While both in the same concentration group, there were also differences between the 3th and 7th day (P<0.05). Conclusions HAase injection can cause changes in biomechanical properties of auricular cartilage. And 7 days would not be enough for the tissue recovery biomechanically. Key words: Ear cartilage; Biomechanical phenomena; Rabbits; Glycosaminoglycans; Hyaluronidase