Assessment of post-trauma microstructural alterations in the rabbit knee cartilage and subchondral bone
Recommended Citation
Singh A, Mantebea H, Badar F, Batool S, Tetmeyer A, Abdelmessih G, Sebastian T, Newton M, Baker K, Salem S, and Xia Y. Assessment of post-trauma microstructural alterations in the rabbit knee cartilage and subchondral bone. J Anat 2024.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2024
Publication Title
Journal of anatomy
Abstract
Early diagnosis of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is critical for designing better treatments before the degradation becomes irreversible. We utilized multimodal high-resolution imaging to investigate early-stage deterioration in articular cartilage and the subchondral bone plate from a sub-critical impact to the knee joint, which initiates PTOA. The knee joints of 12 adult rabbits were mechanically impacted once on the femoral articular surface to initiate deterioration. At 2- and 14-week post-impact surgery, cartilage-bone blocks were harvested from the impact region in the animals (N = 6 each). These blocks were assessed for deterioration using polarized light microscopy (PLM), microcomputed tomography (μCT), and biochemical analysis. Statistically significant changes were noted in the impact tissues across the calcified zone (CZ) at 14 weeks post-impact: the optical retardation values in the CZ of impact cartilage had a drop of 29.0% at 14 weeks, while the calcium concentration in the CZ of impact cartilage also had a significant drop at 14 weeks. A significant reduction of 6.3% in bone mineral density (BMD) was noted in the subchondral bone plate of the impact samples at 14 weeks. At 2 weeks post-impact, only minor, non-significant changes were measured. Furthermore, the impact knees after 14 weeks had greater structural changes compared with the 2-week impact knees, indicating progressive degradation over time. The findings of this study facilitated a connection between mineralization alterations and the early deterioration of knee cartilage after a mechanical injury. In a broader context, these findings can be beneficial in improving clinical strategies to manage joint injuries.
Medical Subject Headings
Animals; Rabbits; Cartilage, Articular; X-Ray Microtomography; Knee Injuries; Bone Density; Knee Joint; Microscopy, Polarization
PubMed ID
38924533
ePublication
ePub ahead of print
Volume
245
Issue
5
First Page
740
Last Page
750
