Cai Haoliuyang, Hao Zhixiu, Xiao Liying, Wan Chao, Tong Lingying
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Technol Health Care. 2017 Jul 20;25(S1):207-217. doi: 10.3233/THC-171323.
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is suggested to be induced by multi-factors, and mechanical environment is regarded as a risky factor.
To investigate the effect of isolated mechanical factor on cartilage.
An active wear test system was designed to perform parameters-controlled in vitro wear tests on rat knee joints with specific load magnitude, flexion-extension angle, and movement frequency. Six hind limbs of 9-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats, with an additional spring on the medial side, were worn by using the custom-designed apparatus. Researchers observed both the menisci and tibial cartilages of these hind limbs using multiphoton laser scanning microscopy to analyze the change of the collagen microstructure caused by wear.
Collagen microstructure of both the medial and lateral meniscus became disordered under cyclic load. Some tissues on the surface of the medial tibial cartilage were removed and the middle layer of the medial compartment displayed cracks. On the contrary, the lateral tibial cartilage was intact.
The results implied that cyclic load caused menisci microstructure disarrangement prior to tibial cartilage damage and the collagen structure of mid-layer tibial cartilage failed before that of the superficial layer under the kinematics adopted in the study.
膝关节骨关节炎（OA）被认为是由多种因素诱发的，机械环境被视为一个危险因素。
研究单一机械因素对软骨的影响。
设计一种主动磨损测试系统，对大鼠膝关节进行参数可控的体外磨损试验，设定特定的负荷大小、屈伸角度和运动频率。使用定制装置对9月龄雄性Sprague-Dawley大鼠的6个后肢进行磨损试验，在内侧额外加一个弹簧。研究人员使用多光子激光扫描显微镜观察这些后肢的半月板和胫骨软骨，分析磨损引起的胶原微观结构变化。
在循环负荷下，内侧和外侧半月板的胶原微观结构均变得紊乱。内侧胫骨软骨表面的一些组织被去除，内侧间室中层出现裂缝。相反，外侧胫骨软骨完好无损。
结果表明，在本研究采用的运动学条件下，循环负荷导致半月板微观结构紊乱先于胫骨软骨损伤，并且胫骨软骨中层的胶原结构比表层更早遭到破坏。
