Background : In medical field و prevention and treatment of articular diseases are very important. Regarding the effect of soya on the treatment of articular diseases, we decided to underline the preference of soya compared to complete protein regimen on the growth of articular cartilage.

  Materials and methods : 30 female mice (Balb/C) with 3 weeks ages were divided to three groups. Each group was fed by three different regimens: The first one enriched protein without soya, the second one low protein regimen, and the third: enriched protein regimen with 40% soya. At the end of 6 months, the blood samples were collected from cardiac puncture under general anesthesia and the serum level of alkaline phosphatase was measured. Then, both hind limbs were removed and after histological preparing, the thickness of the middle part of tibia cartilage, the number of chondrocytes, the concentration of intercellular substance, and the thickness of the lateral part of tibial cartilage were measured using computer assisted histomorphometric analysis.

  Results : There was statistically significant increase in the thickness of the middle and lateral part of tibia cartilage, the number of chondrocytes and the serum level of alkaline phosphatase in the soya content regimen compared to the other groups (P<0.001).

  Conclusion : This study showed that soya can stimulate the production of alkaline phosphatase, increasing of the number of chondrocytes and thickness of cartilage, and also may have an effective role in the maintenance of cartilage.