@article{oai:kanazawa-u.repo.nii.ac.jp:00060714,
 author = {松﨑, 太郎 and 吉田, 信也 and 細, 正博 and Matsuzaki, Taro and Yoshida, Shinya and Hoso, Masahiro},
 issue = {1},
 journal = {Journal of wellness and health care, Journal of wellness and health care},
 month = {Aug},
 note = {Objective: Immobilization of the rat knee joint causes fibrosis of the joint capsule, and
myofibroblasts have been implicated as the cause. This study aimed to perform range of
motion exercises on a rat knee joint contracture model and clarify changes in the joint
range of motion and changes in the joint capsule using α -SMA-positive cells.
Subjects and Methods: Eighteen male Wistar rats were used and randomly divided into
the following three groups: control, immobilized, and exercise. The right hindlimb knee
joints of rats in the immobilized and exercise groups were immobilized with external
fixation at 120 degrees of flexion, and range of motion exercises were started for the
animals in the exercise group the day after the joint immobilization. After a two-week
experimental period, the knee joint extension restriction angles were measured, and the
knee joints were collected as specimens. To observe the posterior joint capsules of the rat
knee joints, hematoxylin and eosin staining and double immunostaining for α -SMA and
CD34 were performed.
Results: Differences in knee extension restriction angles were significant between all
groups, and differences in the number of α -SMA-positive cells were significant between
the control and immobilization groups.
Conclusion: These results suggest that joint immobilization leads to the proliferation
of myofibroblasts, and that range-of-motion exercises may inhibit the proliferation of
myofibroblasts.},
 pages = {39--47},
 title = {Range of motion exercise suppresses myofibroblast proliferation in the joint capsule in a rat joint contracture model},
 volume = {46},
 year = {2022}
}