Abstract: Airflow is an important means of improving thermal comfort in warm and hot environments, but prolonged blowing can also cause various health problems. Compared the changes in joint appearance, tissue structure, and expression of inflammatory cytokines between young and old SD rats in different environments (direct blowing, high humidity, low temperature) by constructing osteoarthritis models. The aim was to evaluate the impact of air conditioning environment on osteoarthritis. Research has found that the appearance of arthritis and inflammatory changes of chondrocytes in rats in high humidity and wind environment were more serious. As for the expression of inflammatory factors, the expressions of IL-1β, TNF-α, VEGF and MMP13 in three experimental groups were all increased, and the increase degree of elderly rats was generally higher than that of young rats. In general, the expression of osteoarthritis inflammatory factors was more sensitive to low temperature environment.

Key words: Air conditioning environment, Airflow exposure, Animal experiments, The elderly, Osteoarthritis