Biochemical changes in knee joint articular cartilage after cemented prosthetic hip hemiarthroplasty in dogs.

Biochemical changes in the distal femoral articular cartilage (knee joint) after cemented prosthetic replacement of the femoral head were determined. Femurs from dogs (n = 10) that had undergone cobalt-chromium prosthetic hip hemiarthroplasty (6-8 months postoperatively) were analyzed for articular cartilage lipids in the distal femur. The quantity of phosphatidylserine increased from 0.59 +/- 0.14 mg (uninvolved) to 1.52 +/- 0.23 mg (hemiarthroplasty) lipid phosphorus/100 g tissue, and the quantity of arachidonic acid in the articular cartilage increased from 0.23 +/- 0.07 mg (uninvolved) to 2.07 +/- 0.29 mg/100 g tissue (hemiarthroplasty). Likewise, hydroxyproline content was higher in the recipient femurs (77.4 +/- 1.58 micrograms/mg cartilage) versus uninvolved femurs (71.8 +/- 1.03 micrograms/mg cartilage); the activity of acid phosphatase was greater in the recipient distal femoral cartilage as compared with the uninvolved femur, 0.07 +/- 0.01 and 0.06 +/- 0.02 mol hydrolyzed per kilogram per hour, respectively, and the hexosamine content was lower in the recipient femur knee cartilage versus knee cartilage from uninvolved femurs, 54.5 +/- 1.51 and 63.1 +/- 1.37 micrograms/mg cartilage, respectively. These biochemical changes may suggest degeneration of the knee joint articular cartilage after cemented hip hemiarthroplasty.