Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratories, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University, A407 East Fee Hall, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
J Biomech. 2010 Jun 18;43(9):1682-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.03.001.
The knee is often a site of injury that can often lead to a chronic disease known as osteoarthritis (OA). The disease may be initiated, in part, by acute injuries to joint cartilage and its cells. In a recent study by this laboratory, using Flemish Giant rabbits, an impact compressive load on the tibial femoral joint was shown to cause significant levels of acute damage to chondrocytes in cartilage of the medial and lateral tibial plateaus. In the current study, using the same model, histological and mechanical data from the plateaus were documented at 6 and 12 months post impact, and compared to the unimpacted control limbs and a limb from unimpacted, control animals. The mechanical properties of cartilage were measured with indentation relaxation tests on the medial and lateral plateaus in regions covered and uncovered by the meniscus. The histological studies on impacted limbs showed surface lesions on both plateaus, thickening of the underlying subchondral bone at 12 months and numerous occult microcracks at the calcified cartilage-subchondral bone interface at 6 and 12 months, without significant changes in cartilage thickness or its mechanical properties versus controls. Yet, there was an increase in both the matrix and fiber moduli and a decrease in the permeability of uncovered, medial plateau cartilage in both limbs of impacted animals between 6 and 12 months post impact that was not documented in control animals.
膝关节是受伤的常见部位，常常会导致一种名为骨关节炎（OA）的慢性疾病。这种疾病可能部分是由关节软骨及其细胞的急性损伤引起的。在本实验室最近的一项研究中，使用佛兰芒巨型兔，对胫骨股骨关节施加冲击压缩负荷，结果显示这种负荷会导致内侧和外侧胫骨平台软骨中的软骨细胞发生明显的急性损伤。在目前的研究中，使用相同的模型，在冲击后 6 个月和 12 个月时记录了来自平台的组织学和力学数据，并与未受冲击的对照肢体和未受冲击的对照动物的肢体进行了比较。通过在半月板覆盖和未覆盖的内侧和外侧平台区域进行压痕松弛测试来测量软骨的力学特性。在受冲击的肢体的组织学研究中，在两个平台上都观察到表面损伤，在 12 个月时，在软骨下骨的底层出现骨肥厚，在 6 个月和 12 个月时，在钙化软骨-软骨下骨界面出现大量隐匿性微裂缝，但与对照相比，软骨厚度或其力学特性没有显著变化。然而，在冲击后 6 个月至 12 个月期间，受冲击动物的未覆盖、内侧平台软骨的基质和纤维模量增加，渗透性降低，而对照动物中没有记录到这种变化。
