... study, Crabp2 was found to be elevated in DJD in a rat model of OA [29,30]. We foundCrapb2 to be significantly increased in early OA, indicatingthat the retinoic acid pathway may play a role ... Lapadula G, Nico B, Cantatore FP, La Canna R, Roncali L, PipitoneV: Early ultrastructural changes of articular cartilage and syn-ovial membrane in experimental vitamin A- induced osteoar-thritis. ... regard to environmental factors, the biggest contributor is most likely to be physical activity/trauma and underlying medical conditionsthat place a greater mechanical burden on articular cartilage.The...