Statistical analysis
The arthritis scores and paw swelling were analyzed with the
Mann–Whitney U test if the requirement of
Gaussian distribution and homogeneity of variance weren’t met.
Differences in the levels of inflammatory factors and micro-CT
parameters between the groups were analyzed with one-way ANOVA for
Homogeneity test of variance and we fulfilled nonparametric Mann Whitney
U test for the comparison between two groups due to the heterogeneity of
variances. Numbers of peripheral blood cells, GRP78 mRNA levels and
histological score were confirmed to Gaussian distribution and
homogeneity of variances and were compared with Student’s unpaired
t-test. Data were expressed as mean±standard errors (SD) of the means.
SPSS software (version 22.0; SPSS Inc., Chicgo, IL, USA) were used to
accomplished all statistical analysis. Two-sided P values of less
than 0.05 were considered as statistical significance.