Objective To investigate the staining rule of several special staining methods on bone and joint staining and their value in morphological research of osteoarthritis． Methods 20 6-month old healthy New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into normal group and osteoarthritis model group，10 in each group． The model rabbits were replicated into knee osteoarthritis model by modified Hulth method． The materials were drawn out 6 weeks after operation．The samples were fixed，decalcified，paraffin embedded and made into paraffin sections，then HE staining，Safranin-Fast Green staining，AB-PAS staining，toluidine blue staining，Van Gieson staining and Mallory staining were applied to observe the morphology of the tissue，and all of the staining methods were compared． Results HE staining showed normal tissue morphology of joints，pathological changes of osteoarthritis can be seen in articular cartilage and subchondral bone of model group; Safranin-Fast Green staining showed clear boundary of cartilage and subchondral bone ( cement line) ，and a clear tide line，the glycosaminoglycan in Cartilage matrix decreased and the fiber Increased; AB-PAS staining showed that glycosaminoglycan，especially the acid glycosaminoglycan reduced in osteoarthritis; toluidine blue staining showed the acid glycosaminoglycan reduced in the tissues of osteoarthritis; Van Gieson staining and Mallory staining showed collagen fibers of bone and joint tissues，but the boundaries of various tissues were not clear． Conclusion Application of HE staining，in combination with safranin-fast green staining and AB-PAS staining in osteoarthritis study may acquire more objective and comprehensive information on joint morphology．