POSTER VIEWING I Biology of Bone, Cartilage and Connective Tissue Disease 1. EFFECT OF CORTICOSTEROID ON TENOCYTES: SHOULD STEROIDS BE USED AS A TREATMENT FOR TENDONOPATHIES?

Background: Corticosteroid injections are commonly used in the treatment of both acute and chronic tendonopathies. Hydrocortisone is one such corticosteroid that is injected into tendon and other soft tissues to reduce inflammation and pain. Currently little is know about the effect of steroid intervention on the cellular characteristics of the treated tissue. This study aimed to observe the effects of different doses of hydrocortisone on primary cultures of avian tenocyte. Methods: Cell cultures were produced from tendon dissected from the lower limb of white Leghorn chicken embryos at 12–13 days post fertilization. Isolated tendon was prepared in cell culture before being incubated under normal conditions. 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, 2.0 mg and 4.0 mg hydrocortisone acetate were added to separate tenocyte culture dishes. Cell morphology and growth was observed at 3, 5 and 7 days of incubation. Additional experiments looked at high-density micromass cell culture to test the effect of increased cel