Influence of age and sex on the strength of bone-ligament junctions in knee joints of rats.

The bone-ligament junction strength of femur-medial collateral ligament-tibia complexes in rats was measured in situ at various ages during a two-year period. Male rats had a higher junction strength than female rats, a difference that became apparent when the animals were sixty days old and in male but not female animals subsequently paralleled the changes in body weight. However, on a bodyweight basis, the junctions were stronger in female than in male rats and this sex difference was evident at fifteen days old and persisted thereafter. Regression analysis between body weight and junction strength indicated that female rats had a significantly higher slope than males, which suggested that the sex differences were due to a hormonal factor or factors. Other measurements showed that elastic stiffness, failure energy, and collagen concentration in the ligament increased, whereas the water content of the ligament decreased with age. Most of these changes could be attriubted to the aging process and not the sex of the animal. It was concluded, however, that the strength of the insertion sites of ligaments on bones are responsive to the hormonal fluctuations that occur with aging.