Systemic Administration of Neutral Electrolyzed Saline as a Novel Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis Reduces Mechanical and Inflammatory Damage to the Joints: Preclinical Evaluation in Mice
Table 3
Histopathological intergroup analysis.
Histopathological scores
N = 9 in each group
Healthy
Placebo
NES20
NES40
value†
Median (Q1–Q3)
Cartilage damage
0 (0–0)
2 (2–3)
2 (1–2)
1 (1–1)
<0.001
Bone erosion
0 (0–0)
3 (3–3)
1 (1–3)
1 (1–2)
<0.001
Excess tissue formation
0 (0–0)
2 (2–3)
2 (2–2)
1 (1–2)
<0.001
Pannus formation
0 (0–0)
3 (2–3)
1 (1–2)
2 (1–2)
<0.001
Ectopic chondrocytes
0 (0–0)
2 (2–3)
1 (0–3)
2 (2–3)
<0.001
Inflammation
0 (0–0)
2 (2–3)
2 (1–2)
1 (1–1)
<0.001
Synovitis grading
0 (0–0)
8 (6–8)
5 (3–6)
4 (3–5)
<0.001
NES : neutral electrolyzed saline 20 (20 µl/d) or 40 (40 µl/d); Q1 and Q3: 25th and 75th percentiles. Scoring system by Tseng H–W et al. (2016); †Kruskal–Wallis test; histopathological synovitis score by Krenn et al. (2002)
