... histologicchanges of the cartilage and bone tissue according to the Mankin scale [16]. The Mankin score included assess-ments of the structure, cellularity, Safranin stainability, and integrity of the tidemark. ... After opening the knee joint, OA was macroscopically graded and hyaline cartilage of the load-bearing area was evaluated histologically according to the Mankin scale and by immunostaining for ... a single dose of anesthesia. The knee jointswere opened using a medial paramedian skin incision of 3cm in length and a medial parapatellar incision of the capsule. In animals of group 1, the...