Experimental study of changes of TNF-α in rabbits with steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head

Objective: To explore the effect of tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α）on the occurrence of steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head（SANFH）. Methods: Twenty-four rabbits were firstly divided into void group （n=12） and model group （n=12） at random. Prednisone Acetate was injected to the model group(0.32 mg·kg-1·d-1). In the 6 th and 8 th week, two rabbits of the two groups were killed respectively to observe whether the model was successful. The level of TNF-α in serum of the residual rabbits of the two groups was examined in Radioimmunoassay method. Results: The level of TNF-α in model group is significantly higher than that in void group（P<0.001） under the premise of the model of SANFH success by histological observation. Conclusion: The rise of level of TNF-α may be one of the most important factors in the occurrence of SANFH.