Wang L, Kalu D N, Banu J, Thomas J B, Gabriel N, Athanasiou K
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Proc Inst Mech Eng H. 2006 May;220(4):573-8. doi: 10.1243/09544119H04404.
Previous studies have demonstrated that male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats experience age-related bone loss with the same characteristics as that in ageing men. As articular cartilage, like bone, is a critical component of the health and function of the musculoskeletal system, the authors hypothesized that articular cartilage in the untreated male SD rats could be a suitable model for studying the age-related deterioration of articular cartilage in men. To test this hypothesis, male SD rats were killed at between 6 and 27 months. The right femur of each rat was removed. The effects of ageing on the structural integrity of the distal femoral articular cartilage were studied by biomechanical testing with a creep indentation apparatus. The aggregate modulus, Poisson's ratio, permeability, thickness, and percentage recovery of articular cartilage were determined using finite element/non-linear optimization modelling. No significant differences were observed in these biomechanical properties of the distal femoral articular cartilage as a function of age. Therefore, untreated male SD rats appear to be unsuitable for studying the age-related changes of articular cartilage as they occur in men. However, and more intriguingly, it is also possible that ageing does not affect the biomechanical properties of articular cartilage in the absence of cartilage pathology.
先前的研究表明，雄性斯普拉格-道利（SD）大鼠会经历与老年男性相同特征的年龄相关性骨质流失。由于关节软骨与骨骼一样，是肌肉骨骼系统健康和功能的关键组成部分，作者推测未处理的雄性SD大鼠的关节软骨可能是研究男性关节软骨年龄相关性退变的合适模型。为了验证这一假设，在6至27个月期间处死雄性SD大鼠。取出每只大鼠的右侧股骨。使用蠕变压痕装置通过生物力学测试研究衰老对股骨远端关节软骨结构完整性的影响。使用有限元/非线性优化模型确定关节软骨的聚集模量、泊松比、渗透率、厚度和恢复百分比。未观察到股骨远端关节软骨的这些生物力学特性随年龄有显著差异。因此，未处理的雄性SD大鼠似乎不适用于研究男性中发生的关节软骨年龄相关性变化。然而，更有趣的是，在没有软骨病理学的情况下，衰老也有可能不会影响关节软骨的生物力学特性。
