Thyroid function, osteoarthritis and epiphyseal closure in various strains of mice

¹ National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases and Division of Research Services, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Thyroid function and osteoarthritis were studied in six inbred and six F₁ hybrid strains of mice at 16 months of age. Strains having little osteoarthritis of the knee generally had lower T/S ratios than strains more susceptible to joint disease. No correlation could be established between the PBI or thyroid weight and the joint disease. The data supply no support for believing that endogenous insufficiency of thyroid hormone influences the development of degenerative joint disease in mice. When the present findings on epiphyseal maturation in four strains were supplemented with data from previous ones on the same strains, a positive correlation appeared to exist between the T/S ratios of these strains and the degree of epiphyseal closure of the knees.