PURPOSE: The goal of the study was to report the prevalence of the lesions of the articular cartilage of the femoral condyles and tibial plateau in patients with a symptomatic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knee undergoing day-case arthroscopy. TYPE OF STUDY: Case series study. METHODS: We studied 378 skeletally mature patients (average age, 27.3 years; range, 16-50 years; 282 men and 84 women), part of a sample of 1,978 patients undergoing a primary knee arthroscopy between January 1986 and August 1993. The articular cartilage lesions were classified according to Outerbridge by a single observer. We assessed the relationship between time of injury and articular cartilage lesions and between meniscal lesions and articular cartilage lesions. RESULTS: A complete ACL tear was found in all 378 knees. Of these, 157 showed at least one lesion of the articular cartilage. The medial femoral condyle (MFC) showed the highest frequency of articular cartilage lesions, especially in the ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Assessment of articular cartilage thickness of the humeral head. T2 - MR- anatomic correlation in cadavers. AU - Hodler, J.. AU - Loredo, R. A.. AU - Longo, C.. AU - Trudell, D.. AU - Yu, J. S.. AU - Resnick, D.. PY - 1995/1/1. Y1 - 1995/1/1. N2 - OBJECTIVE. The purpose of our study was to evaluate several commonly used MR sequences to determine how accurately each demonstrates the thickness of the articular cartilage of the humeral head. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Ten cadaveric shoulders (age at death, 58-92 years; mean, 79 years) were imaged with fat-suppressed transaxial T1-weighted spin-echo three-dimensional gradient-recalled sequences, both before and after injection of 12 ml of diluted gadopentetate dimeglumine. Articular cartilage was measured to the nearest 10th of a millimeter on the MR images and corresponding anatomic sections. RESULTS. Cartilage could not be differentiated from surrounding structures in 14 of 112 locations (13%) on the spin-echo images obtained without ...

BACKGROUND: Articular cartilage repair in the knee is aimed at young patients with area(s) of cartilage loss and no deformity of the knee. These patients arent indicated for a knee replacement. Articular cartilage repair leads to improvement of symptoms of pain, locking and function. Traditionally, articular cartilage repair has always involved exposing the entire knee joint with an arthrotomy. This, though effective, would lead to a large scar, longer hospital stay, longer rehabilitation and its associated complications. Also, the use of Bone Marrow Aspirate Cells (BMAC) for the purpose of cartilage repair has long been debated with both sides having valid arguments and good surgical results.. RATIONALE: Both procedures in this study are performed in one stage, arthroscopically and as day case procedures, which offers minimal scarring and quicker recovery. This automatically confers a significant advantage over the traditional surgical techniques.. To correct the articular cartilage defect, ...

Extracts of normal mature articular cartilage contain aggrecan molecules which bear the G1 domain (the N-terminal globular domain of aggrecan) and are C-terminally truncated by proteolysis at a number of sites. of mature bovine articular cartilage and establish the presence of a novel proteolytic pathway for aggrecanolysis in the cells and/or matrix of mature articular cartilages. EXPERIMENTAL Materials Porcine kidney m-calpain was purchased from Calbiochem. Chondroitinase ABC, endo-galactosidase and keratanase II were obtained from Seikagaku America (East Falmouth, MA, U.S.A.). Goat anti-mouse secondary antibody and mouse mAb isotyping kit were from Amersham Biosciences (Little Chalfont, Amersham, Bucks., U.K.). The affinity column HiTrap? Protein A HP and Sepharose CL-2B were from Amersham Biosciences (Uppsala, Sweden). Preparation of mAb SK-28 The antigen used for immunization was the ovalbumin-linked peptide aggrecan cleavages by m-calpain The Western-blot data (Figures ?(Figures1A,1A, ...

The hallmark feature of osteoarthritis is the breakdown in the articular cartilage of joints such as the knee and hip. Both animal and human research has consistently shown that corticosteroid injections into normal and degenerated knees accelerate the arthritic process. A summary of the effects of the intraarticular corticosteroids on articular cartilage includes: a decrease of protein and matrix synthesis, matrix hyaline appearance becomes fibrotic, clumping of collagen, alteration in chondrocyte cell shape, chondrocyte cell proliferation inhibited, chondrocyte cytoxicity enhanced, loss of chondrocytes, surface deterioration including edema, pitting, shredding, ulceration and erosions, inhibition of articular cartilage metabolism, articular cartilage necrosis, thinning of articular cartilage, decrease in cartilage growth and repair, formation of articular cartilage cysts, and ultimately articular cartilage destruction.. When researchers microscopically and radiologically examine human joints ...

Signals from the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have typically been considered to provide catabolic activities in articular cartilage, and accordingly have been suggested to have a causal role in osteoarthritis progression. The aim of this study was to determine in vivo roles for endogenous EGFR signal activation in articular cartilage. Transgenic mice with conditional, limb-targeted deletion of the endogenous intracellular EGFR inhibitor Mig-6 were generated using CreLoxP (Mig-6-flox; Prx1Cre) recombination. Histology, histochemical staining and immunohistochemistry were used to confirm activation of EGFR signaling in the articular cartilage and joints, and to analyze phenotypic consequences of Mig-6 loss on articular cartilage morphology, proliferation, expression of progenitor cell markers, presence of chondrocyte hypertrophy and degradation of articular cartilage matrix. The articular cartilage of Mig-6-conditional knockout (Mig-6-cko) mice was dramatically and significantly thicker than

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Objective: To investigate the differences between chondrocytes of the superficial and underlying zones of articular cartilage at the level of gene expression. Methods: Messenger RNA (mRNA) was isolated from chondrocytes harvested from the superficial and deep zones of immature bovine articular cartilage. This mRNA was reverse transcribed, radiolabeled, and then each complementary DNA (cDNA) sample was used to screen duplicate filters of a bovine chondrocyte cDNA library. By comparing autoradiographic signals on matching filter sets, clones exclusively expressed in the superficial zone of articular cartilage were isolated and characterized further. Results: Of the superficial-specific gene clones isolated, 25% were found to be a single gene product, clusterin. Northern hybridization was used to show that clusterin is expressed specifically in the superficial zone of articular cartilage and that its expression is up-regulated in mature cartilage. In situ hybridization was used to precisely ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Degradation of proteoglycans in human osteoarthritic cartilage. AU - Altman, Roy D.. AU - Pita, Julio C.. AU - Howell, David S.. PY - 1973/1/1. Y1 - 1973/1/1. N2 - New ultramicro modifications of a hypertonic salt extraction and purification schemes for proteoglycans were applied to the study of proteoglycans in discolored marginal lesions cartilage of patients with osteoarthritis, and the results were compared to a control group of normal appearing cartilage samples from the same patients or from patients with relatively noninflammatory diseases involving the lower extremities. Histologic studies of portions of the same sample used for chemical analysis revealed only minor morphologic changes without leukocytic infiltration. Considerable aberrations from control bovine nasal cartilages were exhibited by normal human articular cartilage samples in respect to the proteoglycan fractionation. Additional abberations of behavior in respect to proteoglycan fractionation were observed ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Chondroprotective effects of zoledronic acid on articular cartilage in dogs with experimentally induced osteoarthritis. AU - Dearmin, Michael G.. AU - Trumble, Troy N.. AU - García, Ana Patricia. AU - Chambers, Jon N.. AU - Budsberg, Steven C.. PY - 2014/4. Y1 - 2014/4. N2 - Objective-To assess effects of zoledronic acid on biomarkers, radiographic scores, and gross articular cartilage changes in dogs with induced osteoarthritis. Animals-21 purpose-bred hound-type dogs. Procedures-The left stifle joint of each dog was examined arthroscopically to determine initial articular cartilage status, which was followed by cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL) transection to induce osteoarthritis. Dogs were assigned to 3 groups (control group, low dose [10 μg of zoledronic acid/kg], or high dose [25 μg of zoledronic acid/kg). Treatments were administered SC every 3 months for 1 year beginning the day after CrCL transection. Serum and synovial fluid samples and radiographs were obtained 0, 1, ...

Published: Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2015 Oct 28;17(10):e19594. doi: 10.5812/ircmj.19594. eCollection 2015. Authors: Kazemi D, Fakhrjou A.. Summary: Articular cartilage injuries of the knee are among the most debilitating injuries leading to osteoarthritis due to limited regenerative capability of cartilaginous tissue. The use of platelet concentrates containing necessary growth factors for cartilage healing has recently emerged as a new treatment method. This study investigated the efficacy of two types of different platelet concentrates were compared in the treatment of acute articular cartilage injuries of the knee in an animal model. The results of this study indicate that both L-PRP and L-PRF could be used to effectively promote the healing of articular cartilage defects of the knee.. Key words: Articular Cartilage; Cartilage; Dogs; Knee Joint; Platelet-Rich Plasma. Read the full study here. ...

During appendicular skeletal development, the bi-potential cartilage anlagen gives rise to transient cartilage, which is eventually replaced by bone, and to articular cartilage that caps the ends of individual skeletal elements. While the molecular mechanism that regulates transient cartilage differentiation is relatively well understood, the mechanism of articular cartilage differentiation has only begun to be unraveled. Furthermore, the molecules that coordinate the articular and transient cartilage differentiation processes are poorly understood. Here, we have characterized in chick the regulatory roles of two transcription factors, NFIA and GATA3, in articular cartilage differentiation, maintenance and the coordinated differentiation of articular and transient cartilage. Both NFIA and GATA3 block hypertrophic differentiation. Our results suggest that NFIA is not sufficient but necessary for articular cartilage differentiation. Ectopic activation of GATA3 promotes articular cartilage ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Growth factor gene transfer to articular chondrocytes may be capable of augmenting cell-based approaches to articular cartilage repair. Currently available data is insufficient to enable translation into clinical use. The purpose of this proposal is to help close the gap between present mechanistic knowledge and therapeutic application. We will focus on three related specific aims. Aim 1: Define a potentially therapeutic set of growth factor genes for articular cartilage repair by determining how interactions among selected growth factors regulate articular chondrocyte function. Hypothesis 1: IGF-I, FGF-2, BMP-2, and BMP-7, when employed for articular chondrcyte gene transfer, interact to differentially regulate the expression of genes that influence chondrocyte reparative functions. Aim 2: Determine whether genetic and tissue engineering methods, when applied to articular chondrocytes, are interdependent. Hypothesis 2: Chemically distinct biomaterials, ...

Treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) diminishes inflammation along with mediators of cartilage destruction. However, NSAIDs may exert adverse direct effects on cartilage, particularly if treatment is prolonged. We therefore compared the direct effects of indomethacin, naproxen, aceclofenac and celecoxib on matrix turnover in human OA cartilage tissue. Human clinically defined OA cartilage from five different donors was exposed for 7 days in culture to indomethacin, naproxen, aceclofenac and celecoxib - agents chosen based on their cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 selectivity. As a control, SC-560 (a selective COX-1 inhibitor) was used. Changes in cartilage proteoglycan turnover and prostaglandin E2 production were determined. OA cartilage exhibited characteristic proteoglycan turnover. Indomethacin further inhibited proteoglycan synthesis; no significant effect of indomethacin on proteoglycan release was found, and proteoglycan content tended to decrease. Naproxen

Dr Justin Hudson performs hip cartilage restoration in Eugene, Salem, Springfield and Corvallis, OR. He also offers treatment for articular cartilage damage.

The University of Virginia, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, is seeking adults with articular cartilage defects in the knee. The purpose of this study is to show if using an investigational tissue graft is better than the standard method of microfracture for the treatment of articular cartilage defects. This study will also document changes in knee pain and function after either surgery is performed.. The standard of care for treating articular cartilage defects in the knee is microfracture. This study is being done to observe if a graft is an efficient and more superior treatment option. For eligible participants, the defect will be treated with either microfracture or by using an investigational tissue graft.. This study involves 12 follow up visits over a 5 year period following surgery.. Study related clinic visits, research x-rays and MRI scans are provided free of charge. The study will also cover the costs of physical therapy that are not covered by your insurance up to $4,000 ...

Articular cartilage is a vital structure in any joint. It is comprised of layers of matrix a tough, smooth and flexible substance which is maintained by cells called chondrocytes which live in the matrix. The superficial layer of the cartilage is incredibly smooth, the deep layers are anchored to the underlying bone. This combination allows bones to slide and rotate against each other, allowing the joint to move. The articular cartilage can be damaged in injuries, it can also deteriorate (degenerate) over time. Damage to the articular cartilage is the key issue in the development of osteo-arthritis. As the joint surface becomes split or broken the ability of the joint to glide and flex slowly deteriorates. The damaged joint surface also causes the release of complex chemicals which stimulate inflammation in the joint. This can be a cause of pain and swelling. Another major cause of pain is the overload of bone under damaged articular cartilage surfaces. As damage worsens, the ability of the ...

re: full thickness articular cartilage damage .9cm right knee weight bearing area 30 year old very active athletic female want a LONG TERM solution! should i microfracture, aci, oats . . .

TY - JOUR. T1 - Spatial and temporal changes of subchondral bone proceed to microscopic articular cartilage degeneration in guinea pigs with spontaneous osteoarthritis. AU - Wang, T.. AU - Wen, Chunyi. AU - Yan, C. H.. AU - Lu, W. W.. AU - Chiu, K. Y.. PY - 2013/4/1. Y1 - 2013/4/1. N2 - Objective: This study aimed to investigate the spatial and temporal subchondral bone change of Dunkin-Hartley (DH) strain guinea pigs spontaneous osteoarthritis (OA) model at early stage with three-dimensional Microfocal Computed Tomography (Micro-CT) analysis, histology and immunohistochemistry. Materials and methods: Knee joints of DH and Bristol Strain 2 (BS2) guinea pigs were analyzed at 1, 2 and 3 months of age for early staged subchondral bone ultrastructure change of OA by Micro-CT and histology. And cartilage degeneration was monitored by histological examination. In addition, expression of Osterix was quantified by immunohistochemistry. Results: Microscopic cartilage degeneration was not found at first 3 ...

Articular cartilage damage is a damage of the smooth, white tissue that covers the ends of bones where they come together to form joints.

Objectives This experimental study aims to compare the effects of three techniques, tree autogenous periosteal graft, demineralized bone matrix (DBM) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) combined with periosteal graft on the healing of full thickness joint cartilage defects in rabbits ...

This study proposes a method for measuring the refractive index of articular cartilage within a thin and small specimen slice. The cartilage specimen, with a thickness of about 50 μm, was put next to a thin film of immersion oil of similar thickness. Both the articular cartilage and immersion oil were scanned along the depth direction using a confocal microscope. The refractive index mismatch between the cartilage and the immersion oil induced a slight axial deformation in the confocal images of the cartilage specimen that was accurately measured by a subpixel edge-detection-based technique. A theoretical model was built to quantify the focal shift of confocal microscopy caused by the refractive index mismatch. With the quantitative deformations of cartilage images and the quantified function of focal shift, the refractive index of articular cartilage was accurately interpolated. At 561 nm, 0.1 MPa and 20 °C, the overall refractive index of the six cartilage plugs was 1.3975 ± 0.0156. The ...

TY - GEN. T1 - Investigating mechanical properties of porcine articular cartilage by flat plate compression tests. AU - Liou, N. S.. AU - Jeng, Y. R.. AU - Yen, S. H.. AU - Chen, S. F.. AU - Wu, K. T.. PY - 2011/12/1. Y1 - 2011/12/1. N2 - An inverse iterative finite element analysis procedure was developed to investigate mechanical properties of porcine articular cartilage under compression load. Specimen consists of articular cartilage and bone was cut from porcine femur for this study. The specimen was mounted on metal base plate and the compression tests were performed by using material test machine with flat compression plate. The ramp-hold compression tests with different ramping displacement rates and long-term compression test with very low displacement rate were performed on the specimens. The force and compression displacement as function of time were recorded. The profile of specimen was obtained from for generating the geometry model of specimen. The finite element model which ...

A gold standard treatment for articular cartilage injuries is yet to be found, and a cost-effective and predictable large animal model is needed to bridge the gap between in vitro studies and clinical studies. Ideally, the animal model should allow for testing of clinically relevant treatments and the biological response should be reproducible and comparable to humans. This allows for a reliable translation of results to clinical studies.This study aimed at verifying the Göttingen minipig as a pre-clinical model for articular cartilage repair by testing existing clinical cartilage repair techniques and evaluating the use of two defects per knee. Sixteen fully mature Göttingen minipigs were used. The minipigs received bilateral trochlear osteochondral drill-hole defects or chondral defects (Ø 6 mm), either one defect per knee or two defects per knee. The defects were treated with one of the following: Matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI), microfracture (MFx), autologous-dual

Articular cartilage is an avascular connective soft tissue in the diarthrodial joints and functions in a highly demanding mechanical environment. The degeneration or wear of the cartilage is a huge problem that effects millions of people every year.. The long term objective of the present work is to develop an analytical articular cartilage growth model. A simplified 2D axisymmetric representation of the human knee joint, including cartilage layers, meniscus and underlying bones, was developed. The cartilage was modeled as a biphasic fluid saturated porous medium and an uniform growth was simulated by a thermal expansion of the solid phase.. The results obtained in the current work show that the cartilage was seen growing onto the implant with time. The deeper the implant, the higher the cartilage grew onto the implant, and into the gap between the cartilages. This and other results will be presented.. ...

Football, the most popular sport in the world, is played by more than 300 million people. Increasing participation is associated with an increase in articular cartilage injuries in the high-impact sport, particularly at the competitive and world class level.1 ,2 Injury of articular cartilage surfaces occurs in 36% of athletes, which is more than twice than that in the general population.3 Higher injury rates are noted in competitions than during practice, in athletes with body mass index (BMI) over 30, and in certain playing positions.4. Articular cartilage injury in athletes may occur in two separate pathways. Chronic repetitive loading of the articular cartilage during sports activity can lead to progressive articular cartilage degradation with accumulation of catabolic enzymes and cytokines, fragmentation of collagen and aggrecan, and resultant fissuring and progressive breakdown of the articular surface.5 The sports-associated chronic biochemical and metabolic changes are similar to the ...

The preponderance of scientific evidence shows that NSAIDs damage articular cartilage. Various scientific papers and consensus groups have stated that there is no convincing data to show that the widely used NSAIDs and recommended selective COX-2 inhibitors have favorable effects on cartilage.129-131 Even the main consensus paper from the International Cartilage Repair Society and Osteoarthritis Research Society International stated that NSAID use has to be limited to the short term. Specifically the recommendation was as follows: In patients with symptomatic hip or knee osteoarthritis, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) should be used at the lowest effective dose but their long-term use should be avoided if possible.132 They also noted that NSAIDs should not be first-line therapy for joint OA. Other groups have raised similar sentiments. The committees of the International League Against Rheumatism and the World Health Organization came up with guidelines for the testing of new ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Quantitative analysis of shrinkage and swelling behavior of articular cartilage using high-frequency ultrasound. AU - Wnag, Qing. AU - Zheng, Yongping. PY - 2006/10/1. Y1 - 2006/10/1. N2 - Articular cartilage provides joints with excellent lubrication, wearing characteristics and a smooth efficient weight-bearing system. Swelling of articular cartilage serves as an important biomechanical property and one of the early signs of osteoarthritis (OA). The aims of this study were to build a high-frequency ultrasound system and to investigate the transient osmosis-induced free shrinkage-swelling behavior of articular cartilage in a non-destructive and non-contact way. Cylindrical cartilage-bone specimens were prepared from the normal mature bovine patellae. The transient shrinkage (de-swelling) and swelling behaviors of cartilage were induced by changing the concentration of the bathing saline from 0.15 M to 2 M and then back to 0.15 M. The shrinkage and swelling phases were monitored ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - The role of nitric oxide in proteoglycan turnover by bovine articular cartilage organ cultures. AU - Stefanovic-Racic, M.. AU - Morales, T. I.. AU - Taskiran, D.. AU - McIntyre, L. A.. AU - Evans, C. H.. PY - 1996/2/1. Y1 - 1996/2/1. N2 - Monolayer cultures of articular chondrocytes synthesize large amounts of nitric oxide (NO) following exposure to IL-1. The latter has antianabolic and procatabolic activities on these cells, but little is known about the role, if any, of NO in the integrated metabolic pathways of the chondrocyte. In the present study, the role of endogenously produced NO in both the synthesis and degradation of proteoglycans was investigated for the first time. Bovine articular cartilage slices exposed to 20 U/ml human rIL-1β (hrIL-1β) synthesized large amounts of NO for 1 to 2 days, after which production fell to a steady state level ~20% of the peak value for the remainder of the 14- day incubation. The NO synthase inhibitor, N-monomethyl L-arginine (L-NMA, ...

TY - BOOK. T1 - Articular cartilage. AU - Athanasiou, Kyriacos A.. AU - Darling, Eric M.. AU - DuRaine, Grayson D.. AU - Hu, Jerry C.. AU - Reddi, A Hari. PY - 2013/1/1. Y1 - 2013/1/1. N2 - This book covers the latest research and advancements related to articular cartilage in biology, development, pathology, clinical applications and tissue engineering. The authors take an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses the breadth and depth of basic science, bioengineering, translational science and detailed methological approaches. It is designed to be an all encompassing encyclopedia of articular cartilage. Written at a level that allows wide accessibility, the books comprehensive focus on multiple aspects of articular cartilage sets it apart from other books.. AB - This book covers the latest research and advancements related to articular cartilage in biology, development, pathology, clinical applications and tissue engineering. The authors take an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses ...

Articular cartilage lesions occur commonly. Cartilage is relatively avascular and is unable to self-repair. A chondral lesion may become symptomatic. It may lead to osteoarthritis and increased morbidity. The aim of cartilage repair is to restore hyaline cartilage. There are many types of cartilage repair surgery, most of which result in fibrocartilage repair tissue that is suboptimal. Autologous chondrocyte implantation has been shown to produce hyaline-type repair tissue. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is performed preoperatively to define the ulcer and postoperatively to evaluate the technical success of implantation and the state of cartilage healing and to identify potential complications. Features of the autologous chondrocyte implantation graft that are assessed include the degree of filling by repair tissue, its integration with native cartilage and subchondral bone, the character of the graft substance and surface, and the underlying bone. MR arthrography is superior to unenhanced MR ...

Recent advances in MRI have enabled the quantitative assessment of articular cartilage morphology in human joints. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the precision of quantitative shoulder cartilage measurements is sufficient to detect changes between and within patients, and that shoulder cartilage thickness in paraplegic patients increases due to increased loading. We imaged the shoulders of seven healthy volunteers four times using a coronal 3D, fat-suppressed, gradient-echo sequence. The humeral head cartilage in seven paraplegic patients was evaluated soon after injury and 1 year post injury. A precision of 4.5% (root mean square (RMS) average coefficient of variation (CV) %) was found for shoulder cartilage thickness measurements in the humeral head. Whereas a significant decrease of cartilage thickness (-11%, P , 0.05) was observed in the knee, there was no significant change in articular cartilage thickness in the shoulder (-1.1%). Our data show, for the first time, that ...

OBJECTIVE: Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) in articular cartilage can signal via two routes, the ALK5/Smad2/3P and the ALK1/Smad1/5/8P route, the first being protective and the latter favoring chondrocyte terminal differentiation. Since biomechanical factors are known to play an essential role in osteoarthritis (OA) initiation and progression, we investigated if excessive mechanical compression can alter TGF-beta signaling in cartilage shifting it from ALK5/Smad2/3P to ALK1/Smad1/5/8P pathway, favoring terminal differentiation of chondrocytes. DESIGN: Articular cartilage explants were harvested from bovine metacarpophalangeal joints. After equilibration, explants were subjected to unconfined dynamic mechanical compression (1 Hz) with 3 MPa (physiological) or 12 MPa (excessive) stress. After different time intervals samples were frozen and mRNA levels of selected genes were examined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: In articular cartilage compressed with 3 MPa and ...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disease, characterized by cartilage loss and subchondral bone remodeling in response to abnormal mechanical load. Heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans bind to many proteins that regulate cartilage homeostasis, including growth factors, morphogens, proteases, and their inhibitors, and modulate their localization, retention, and biological activity. Changes in HS expression and structure may thus have important consequences for joint health. We analyzed normal and osteoarthritic human knee cartilage, and found HS biosynthesis was markedly disrupted in OA, with 45% of the 38 genes analyzed differentially regulated in diseased cartilage. The expression of several HS core proteins, biosynthesis, and modification enzymes was increased in OA cartilage, whereas the expression of the HS proteoglycans syndecan 4 and betaglycan was reduced. The structure of HS was also altered, with increased levels of 6-O-sulfation in osteoarthritic samples, which correlated with

Purpose: To compare 3D high-resolution MRI sequences in term of contrast, Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), artefacts and cartilage thickness in knee artic..

Results from a Clinical Trial for Safety and Proof‐of‐Concept with 7 Years of Extended Follow‐Up. Few methods are available to regenerate articular cartilage defects in patients with osteoarthritis. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of articular cartilage regeneration by a novel medicinal product composed of allogeneic human umbilical cord blood‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB‐MSCs). Patients with Kellgren‐Lawrence grade 3 osteoarthritis and International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grade 4 cartilage defects were enrolled in this clinical trial. The stem cell‐based medicinal product (a composite of culture‐expanded allogeneic hUCB‐MSCs and hyaluronic acid hydrogel [Cartistem]) was applied to the lesion site. Safety was assessed by the World Health Organization common toxicity criteria. The primary efficacy outcome was ICRS cartilage repair assessed by arthroscopy at 12 weeks.. Read more about cartilage regeneration and stem cells ...

The location of pyridinoline in 18-month-old bovine articular cartilage was investigated by fractionation of CNBr-derived peptides by ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. Two peptides, PCP1 and PCP2, were isolated and were shown to contain stoichiometric amounts of pyridinoline. From its amino acid composition and sequence studies, peptide PCP1 was shown to comprise two C-terminal non-helical chains (CB14) linked through pyridinoline to the alpha 1(II)-CB12 portion of the helix. The CB14 chains appeared to be labile at their C-terminal ends, resulting in lower-than-expected amounts of homoserine, and only the N-terminal portion of the peptide was sequenced. Similar studies of peptide PCP2 showed that it contained two N-terminal non-helical chains (CB4) linked to the alpha 1(II)-CB9,7 portion of the helix. The isolated peptides therefore confirmed the function of pyridinoline in stabilizing the 4D stagger of adjacent molecules. The possibility that the cross-link could act both as an ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Current Concepts of Articular Cartilage Restoration Techniques in the Knee. AU - Camp, Christopher L.. AU - Stuart, Michael J.. AU - Krych, Aaron. PY - 2014/1/1. Y1 - 2014/1/1. N2 - Context:Articular cartilage injuries are common in patients presenting to surgeons with primary complaints of knee pain or mechanical symptoms. Treatment options include comprehensive nonoperative management, palliative surgery, joint preservation operations, and arthroplasty.Evidence Acquisition:A MEDLINE search on articular cartilage restoration techniques of the knee was conducted to identify outcome studies published from 1993 to 2013. Special emphasis was given to Level 1 and 2 published studies.Study Design:Clinical review.Level of Evidence:Level 3.Results:Current surgical options with documented outcomes in treating chondral injuries in the knee include the following: microfracture, osteochondral autograft transfer, osteochondral allograft transplant, and autologous chondrocyte transplantation. ...

Articular cartilage is a critical component in the movement of one bone against another. It possesses unique chemical properties allowing it to serve as a bearing surface, capable of transferring loads from one bone to another while simultaneously allowing the load bearing surfaces to articulate with low friction. Patient-specific finite element (FE) models incorporating articular cartilage provide insight into articular joint mechanics [1, 2]. To date, the methods/tools available to create accurate FE mesh definitions of the articular cartilage are limited. Semi-automated morphing methods have been developed, but many intermediate steps have to be performed to get the final cartilage mesh definition [3]. Commercially available software [4] is capable of generating tetrahedral/shell/pyramid element based meshes of the cartilage from the underlying bony surface, but hexahedral meshes are preferred over tetrahedral meshes [5]. IA-FEMesh currently provides the ability to project a pre-defined set ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - The evolution of articular cartilage imaging and its impact on clinical practice. AU - Winalski, Carl S.. AU - Rajiah, Prabhakar. PY - 2011/9/1. Y1 - 2011/9/1. N2 - Over the past four decades, articular cartilage imaging has developed rapidly. Imaging now plays a critical role not only in clinical practice and therapeutic decisions but also in the basic research probing our understanding of cartilage physiology and biomechanics.. AB - Over the past four decades, articular cartilage imaging has developed rapidly. Imaging now plays a critical role not only in clinical practice and therapeutic decisions but also in the basic research probing our understanding of cartilage physiology and biomechanics.. KW - Arthrography. KW - Articular cartilage. KW - Computed tomography. KW - Imaging. KW - Magnetic resonance imaging. KW - Optical coherence tomography. KW - Radiography. KW - Ultrasound. UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80052058355&partnerID=8YFLogxK. UR - ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Application of stem cells for articular cartilage regeneration.. AU - Hwang, Nathaniel S.. AU - Elisseeff, Jennifer. PY - 2009/1. Y1 - 2009/1. N2 - Articular cartilage is a highly organized tissue lacking self-regeneration capacity upon lesion. Current surgical intervention by application of in vitro-expanded autologous chondrocytes transplantation procedure is associated with several disadvantages, including donor-site morbidity and inferior fibrocartilage formation at the defect site. However, recent advancements in tissue engineering have provided notable strategies for stem cell-based therapies and articular cartilage tissue engineering. In this review, we discuss the current strategies to engineer cartilage tissues from adult stem cells and human embryonic stem cell-derived cells. The characteristics of adult stem cells, the microenvironmental control of cell fate determination, and the limitation imposed by the intrinsic nature of stem cells are discussed. The strategy to ...

Joints that have degenerated as a result of aging or injury contain dead chondrocytes and damaged cartilage. Some studies have suggested that chondrocyte death precedes cartilage damage, but how the loss of chondrocytes affects cartilage integrity is not clear. In this study, we examined whether chondrocyte death undermines cartilage integrity in aging and injury using a rapid 3D confocal cartilage imaging technique coupled with standard histology. We induced autonomous expression of diphtheria toxin to kill articular surface chondrocytes in mice and determined that chondrocyte death did not lead to cartilage damage. Moreover, cartilage damage after surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus of the knee was increased in mice with intact chondrocytes compared with animals whose chondrocytes had been killed, suggesting that chondrocyte death does not drive cartilage damage in response to injury. These data imply that chondrocyte catabolism, not death, contributes to articular cartilage damage ...

With the aim of providing information for modelling joint and limb systems, widely available constitutive hyperelastic laws are evaluated in this paper for their ability to predict the mechanical responses of normal and osteoarthritic articular cartilage. Load-displacement data from mechanical indentation were obtained for normal and osteoarthritic cartilage at 0.1 s(-1) and 0.025 s(-1) and converted to the stress-stretch ratio. The data were then fitted to the Arruda-Boyce, Mooney-Rivlin, neo-Hookean, Ogden, polynomial, and Yeoh hyperelastic laws in the MATLAB environment. Although each of the hyperelastic laws performed satisfactorily at the higher rate of loading, their ability to fit experimental data at the lower loading rate varied considerably. For the preferred models, coefficients were provided for stiff, soft, and average tissues to represent normal and degraded tissue at high and low loading rates. The present authors recommend the use of the Mooney-Rivlin or the Yeoh models for describing

Objective: Oxidative stress occurs when the metabolic balance of a cell is disrupted through exposure to excess pro-oxidant. Whilst it is known that unregulated production or exposure to exogenous sources of pro-oxidants induces chondrocyte cell death and degrades matrix components in vitro, relatively little is known of the effects of pro-oxidants on articular cartilage in situ. The objective of this study was to determine if a single exposure to the pro-oxidant hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induces a degenerative phenotype. Methods: Articular cartilage explants were obtained from skeletally mature bovine steers and exposed to a single dose of hydrogen peroxide (0.1-1.0 mM) and cultured for up to 21 days. Cell death, and sulfated glycosaminoglycan loss into the medium and gene expression were quantitatively determined. Adoption of an abnormal chondrocyte phenotype was analyzed through the expression of 3B3(−), nitrotyrosine and procollagen type IIA epitopes in cartilage explants. Results: Cell ...

PURPOSE: To measure reproducibility, longitudinal and cross-sectional differences in T2* maps at 3 Tesla (T) in the articular cartilage of the knee in subjects with osteoarthritis (OA) and healthy matched controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MRI data and standing radiographs were acquired from 33 subjects with OA and 21 healthy controls matched for age and gender. Reproducibility was determined by two sessions in the same day, while longitudinal and cross-sectional group differences used visits at baseline, 3 and 6 months. Each visit contained symptomological assessments and an MRI session consisting of high resolution three-dimensional double-echo-steady-state (DESS) and co-registered T2* maps of the most diseased knee. A blinded reader delineated the articular cartilage on the DESS images and median T2* values were reported. RESULTS: T2* values showed an intra-visit reproducibility of 2.0% over the whole cartilage. No longitudinal effects were measured in either group over 6 months. T2* maps revealed a 5

Complex cartilage lesions of the knee including large cartilage defects, kissing lesions, and osteoarthritis (OA) represent a common problem in orthopaedic surgery and a challenging task for the orthopaedic surgeon. As there is only limited data, we performed a prospective clinical study to investigate the benefit of autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) for this demanding patient population. Fifty-one patients displaying at least one of the criteria were included in the present retrospective study: (1.) defect size larger than 10 cm2; (2.) multiple lesions; (3.) kissing lesions, cartilage lesions Outerbridge grade III-IV, and/or (4.) mild/moderate osteoarthritis (OA). For outcome measurements, the International Cartilage Societys International Knee Documentation Committees (IKDC) questionnaire, as well as the Cincinnati, Tegner, Lysholm and Noyes scores were used. Radiographic evaluation for OA was done using the Kellgren score. Patients age was 36 years (13-61), defects size 7.25 (3-17.5) cm2,

Although various alterative models of therapy are used for cartilage repair, no definite conclusion has been reached. Glucosamine (GlcN) is widely used as a nutritional supplement. However, the clinical- evidence-based outcome of GlcN administration remains controversial. N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc), a derivative of GlcN, shows chondroprotective activity and mediates the activation of articular chondrocytes. Therefore, we investigated the effect of intra-articular administration of GlcNAc in rabbits knee joints with experimental full-thickness articular cartilage (FTAC) defects. Twelve male adult New Zealand white rabbits, providing 24 knees, were used in this study. FTAC defects were created in the high-weight-bearing area of the medial femoral condyles of bilateral knees. All rabbits were randomly allocated to analysis at postsurgical week 4 or postsurgical week 12. In the week 4 group, rabbits knees (six per group) were intra-articularly injected with normal saline or with GlcNAc twice per week

TY - JOUR. T1 - Hydrostatic pressure in articular cartilage tissue engineering. T2 - From chondrocytes to tissue regeneration. AU - Elder, Benjamin D.. AU - Athanasiou, Kyriacos A.. PY - 2009/3/1. Y1 - 2009/3/1. N2 - Cartilage has a poor intrinsic healing response, and neither the innate healing response nor current clinical treatments can restore its function. Therefore, articular cartilage tissue engineering is a promising approach for the regeneration of damaged tissue. Because cartilage is exposed to mechanical forces during joint loading, many tissue engineering strategies use exogenous stimuli to enhance the biochemical or biomechanical properties of the engineered tissue. Hydrostatic pressure (HP) is emerging as arguably one of the most important mechanical stimuli for cartilage, although no optimal treatment has been established across all culture systems. Therefore, this review evaluates prior studies on articular cartilage involving the use of HP, with a particular emphasis on the ...

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness and limitations of autologous osteochondral grafting for the treatment of articular cartilage defects in the knee. Methods: The subjects were 40 patients who had undergone autologous osteochondral grafting. Fifteen knees had cartilage defects combined with anterior cruciate ligament tears (ACL group), 15 knees had cartilage defects combined with osteoarthritis (OA group), and 10 knees had cartilage defects combined with osteochondral dissecans (OCD group). From one to five osteochondral pegs were harvested from the less-weight-bearing periphery of the articular surface of the femoral condyle and grafted to cartilage defects. The clinical results were assessed based on the Lysholm score and radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image assessment. Results: The median follow-up duration was 24 months (range from 12 to 41 months). The mean Lysholm score following treatment was improved in all groups. The patients who had cartilage defects combined ...

The ability to heal soft tissue injuries and regenerate cartilage is the Holy Grail of musculoskeletal medicine. Articular cartilage repair and regeneration is considered to be largely intractable due to the poor regenerative properties of this tissue. Due to their low self-repair ability, cartilage defects that result from joint injury, aging, or osteoarthritis, are the most often irreversible and are a major cause of joint pain and chronic disability. However, current methods do not perfectly restore hyaline cartilage and may lead to the apparition of fibro- or continue hypertrophic cartilage. The lack of efficient modalities of treatment has prompted research into tissue engineering combining stem cells, scaffold materials and environmental factors. The field of articular cartilage tissue engineering, which aims to repair, regenerate, and/or improve injured or diseased cartilage functionality, has evoked intense interest and holds great potential for improving cartilage therapy. Plasma-rich ...

TY - GEN. T1 - Altered mechanics of tibial cartilage following joint immobilization in a canine model. AU - Setton, Lori A.. AU - Perry, Charles H.. AU - LeRoux, Michelle A.. AU - Wang, Jean Y.. AU - Howell, David S.. AU - Cheung, Herman S.. PY - 1999. Y1 - 1999. N2 - To study the effect of immobilization, the compressive and shear properties of articular cartilage were quantified at sites corresponding to those of elevated MMP staining on the tibial plateau of mongrel dogs. Cartilage samples were tested in compression and torsion on a displacement-controlled rheometer. The samples were weighed after testing and again after lyophilization to determine water content as the percentage of tissue wet weight. The results support the hypothesis that knee joint immobilization will produce deleterious changes in cartilage function at the tibial plateau.. AB - To study the effect of immobilization, the compressive and shear properties of articular cartilage were quantified at sites corresponding to those ...

Orthopedic knee surgeons at OrthoNorCal in Morgan Hill, Watsonville, Santa Cruz County and Santa Clara County, CA offers knee surgery to treat patellofemoral problems, knee osteoarthritis, knee pain, articular cartilage damage, patellar dislocation and patellar malalignment.

TY - JOUR. T1 - Frictional response of articular cartilage containing crystals. AU - Clift, Sally E. AU - Harris, B. AU - Dieppe, P A. AU - Hayes, A. PY - 1989. Y1 - 1989. N2 - Many joint diseases are associated with the deposition of crystals in articular cartilage. Three main types are commonly found: calcium pyrophosphate, calcium hydroxyapatite and monosodium urate. The effects of these articular crystals on the frictional properties and the surface condition of the articular cartilage were studied. A total of 43 cartilage specimens cut from 19 post-mortem knee joints have been tested in purpose-designed apparatus. The results show that a high friction coefficient and a high level of crystal deposition tend to occur with a worsening of the surface quality of the articular cartilage. AB - Many joint diseases are associated with the deposition of crystals in articular cartilage. Three main types are commonly found: calcium pyrophosphate, calcium hydroxyapatite and monosodium urate. The effects ...

Destruction of articular cartilage is a characteristic feature of osteoarthritis (OA). Collagen hydrolysates are mixtures of collagen peptides and have gained huge public attention as nutriceuticals used for prophylaxis of OA. Here, we evaluated for the first time whether different bovine collagen hydrolysate preparations indeed modulate the metabolism of collagen and proteoglycans from human OA cartilage explants and determined the chemical composition of oligopeptides representing collagen fragments. Using biophysical techniques, like MALDI-TOF-MS, AFM, and NMR, the molecular weight distribution and aggregation behavior of collagen hydrolysates from bovine origin (CH-Alpha®, Peptan™ B 5000, Peptan™ B 2000) were determined. To investigate the metabolism of human femoral OA cartilage, explants were obtained during knee replacement surgery. Collagen synthesis of explants as modulated by 0-10 mg/ml collagen hydrolysates was determined using a novel dual radiolabeling procedure. Proteoglycans, NO,

Hopping provides efficient and energy saving locomotion for kangaroos, but it results in great forces in the knee joints. A previous study has suggested that a unique fibrous cartilage in the central region of the tibial cartilage could serve to decrease the peak stresses generated within kangaroo tibiofemoral joints. However, the influences of the microstructure, composition and mechanical properties of the central fibrous and peripheral hyaline cartilage on the function of the knee joints are still to be defined. The present study showed that the fibrous cartilage was thicker and had a lower chondrocyte density than the hyaline cartilage. Despite having a higher PG content in the middle and deep zones, the fibrous cartilage had an inferior compressive strength compared to the peripheral hyaline cartilage. The fibrous cartilage had a complex three dimensional collagen meshwork with collagen bundles parallel to the surface in the superficial zone, and with collagen bundles both parallel and ...

Objective: To investigate the effects of a pulsed electromagnetic field (EMF) on articular cartilage matrix biosynthesis with regard to age and cartilage damage using a matrix depleted cartilage explant model.. Methods: Cartilage explants were obtained from metacarpophalangeal joints of calves and adult cows. After depletion of the extracellular matrix by trypsin digestion, samples were maintained in serum-free basal medium with and without the addition of interleukin 1β (IL1β). Half the samples were subjected to an EMF for 24 minutes daily; the other half were left untreated. Undigested and untreated explants served as negative controls. After 7 days, biosynthesis of matrix macromolecules was assessed by [35S]sulphate incorporation and values were normalised to hydroxyproline content.. Results: The EMF increased matrix macromolecule synthesis in undigested, untreated explants (p,0.009). In matrix depleted samples the EMF had no stimulatory effect on proteoglycan biosynthesis. IL1β ...

Background: Recent studies have provided evidence that integrins play roles in recognition of mechanical stimuli and its translation into a cellular response. Integrin signaling may be regulated by a number of mechanisms including accessory proteins such as CD98 (4F2 antigen). Objectives: To determine CD98 expression by human articular chondrocytes and its involvement in human articular mechanotransduction. Methods: CD98 expression was assessed by immunostaining of cryostat sections of snap frozen articular cartilage and in cultured cells by western blotting. Chondrocytes enzymatically isolated from macroscopically normal and osteoarthritic (OA) articular cartilage were grown in short term, primary monolayer culture and used in a resting state or following mechanical stimulation at 0.33Hz. Results: Human articular chondrocytes express CD98 and immunoreactivity revealed a similar heterogeneous pattern of CD98 in both normal and osteoarthritic (OA) human articular cartilage. No role of CD98 was detected

Purpose: To systematize the available scientific literature on the prevalence of articular cartilage and/or osteo- chondral lesions in football (soccer) players knees, and overview the surgical procedures and functional outcomes and return to sports. Methods: A comprehensive search using Pubmed, Cochrane Library, SPORTDiscus, and CINAHL databases was carried out until September 30, 2015. All English language studies that assessed the outcomes of a surgical technique for the treatment of articular cartilage lesions in football players knees, with a minimum follow-up of 12 months, were included. The reference list of the most relevant papers was screened. The main outcomes of interest were the clinical, arthroscopy or imaging primary outcomes and the return to sports rate. The methodological and reporting qualities were assessed according to Coleman methodology score. Results: The search provided 485 titles and abstracts. Five studies were eligible for inclusion (mean Coleman score of 37.2 ...

ACI or autologous chondrocyte implantation is one way to biologically restore more normal functioning acticular cartilage tissue. In the picture above, there is a full thickness, large osteochondral defect in this case of the lateral femoral condyle. You can see the defect hematoma that develops which will lead to the development of scar cartilage. This is the bodys normal attempt to heal this injury, but we know that scar cartilage doesnt function like normal hyaline cartilage and will not last. ACI procedure will attempt to replace this scar cartilage with the patients own articular cartilage cells that have been grown in the lab. The following sequence of pictures will show steps of the procedure. Click image for larger view.. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of a one year programme of running training (up to 40 km/day for 15 weeks) on the spatial orientation pattern of collagen and glycosaminoglycans in articular cartilage in different parts of the knee (stifle) and shoulder joints of young beagle dogs. METHODS: Area specific measurements of the optical path difference (= retardation, gamma) and the cartilage zone thickness were performed using conventional procedures and a new computer based quantitative polarised light microscopy method. Transmission electron microscopy was used to determine the zonal volume density of collagen fibrils. The concentrations of collagen and hydroxypyridinium crosslinks were investigated biochemically. RESULTS: Running training decreased gamma by 24-34% (p , 0.05) in the superficial zone of the lateral femoral condyle articular cartilage and at the centre of the tibial condyles. Gamma of glycosaminoglycans decreased by 26% (p , 0.05) in the superficial zone of the lateral condyle ...

The efficacy of the biphasic poroviscoelastic (BPVE) theory [1] in constitutive modeling of articular cartilage biomechanics is well-established [2-4]. Indeed, this model has been used to simultaneously predict stress relaxation force across confined compression, unconfined compression, and indentation protocols [2,3]. Previous works have also demonstrated success in simultaneously curve-fitting the BPVE model to reaction force and lateral deformation data gathered from stress relaxation tests of articular cartilage in unconfined compression [4]. However, a potential limitation of practical applications of such a successful model is seen in some commonly-employed mechanical testing methods for articular cartilage, such as confined compression and unconfined compression. These methods require the excision of a disk of cartilage from its underlying subchondral base, which likely would compromise the structural integrity of the tissue, causing swelling and curling artifacts of the sample [5]. ...

Theoretical and experimental studies were performed to address the relationships between the microstructure, composition, and mechanical behaviors of articular cartilage and hydrogel-based engineered constructs for functional tissue engineering of articular cartilage. The contributions of the two major components of articular cartilage - negatively charged proteoglycans and bimodular collagen fibrils - to electromechanical properties was described by a triphasic model (Lai, Hou et al, 1991) that is incorporated with conewise linear elasticity constitutive model (Cumier, He et al 1995). The model was solved analytically for the unconfined compression stress relaxation. The fixed charge density of the tissue was successfully quantitatively calculated from stress-relaxation experiments on whole tissue samples. The interaction between collagen and proteoglycans, and the resulting residual stress and curling behaviors of cartilage strips were analyzed with a layeredinhomogeneous, orthotropic, ...

By Nathan K. Endres, MD. Chances are, anyone reading this right now has dealt with knee pain. Whether youre a skier, boarder, climber, hiker, runner, biker or maybe even a paddler - most of us have had a knee problem at some point.. Some knee problems seem to get better and go away, while others can linger and interfere with activities and, sometimes, just daily life.. There are lots of causes of knee pain. One of the most common causes is articular cartilage damage. Articular cartilage is a specialized tissue made up of water, collagen and cells (chondrocytes) surrounded by a matrix. Cartilage is the bearing surface of any joint. Normal cartilage provides a nearly frictionless interface to allow for smooth motion.. In the knee, cartilage covers the end of the femur (thigh bone), the top of the tibia (shin bone) and the back of the patella (knee cap). Normally, cartilage looks white and shiny - like the inside of a coconut, or a cue ball. It is good at resisting compression, but not as good at ...

Lubricin, a heavily O-glycosylated protein, is essential for boundary lubrication of articular cartilage. Strong surface adherence of lubricin is required given the extreme force it must withstand. Disulfide bound complexes of lubricin and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) have recently been identified in arthritic synovial fluid suggesting they may be lost from the cartilage surface in osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis. This investigation was undertaken to localise COMP-lubricin complexes within cartilage and investigate if other cartilage proteins are involved in anchoring lubricin to the joint. Immunohistochemical analysis of human cartilage biopsies showed lubricin and COMP co-localise to the cartilage surface. COMP knockout mice, however, presented with a lubricin layer on the articular cartilage leading to the further investigation of additional lubricin binding mechanisms. Proximity ligation assays (PLA) on human cartilage biopsies was used to localise additional lubricin ...

Lameness caused by osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common reason for failure to race among horses. Degenerative changes to the articular cartilage are commonly seen often with subchondral bone sclerosis. Cartilage is a connective tissue with tensile strength and resilience, consisting of cells and abundant extracellular matrix. The cells are adapting the matrix to environmental conditions by synthesis and degradation of the matrix structural elements. A change in the concentration of macromolecules in synovial fluid and serum can indicate early biochemical changes in the joint. This provides a tool for research into and monitoring pathogenic mechanisms of OA. The content of COMP, aggrecan and collagen type II was measured in serum and synovial fluid (sf) from trotters and riding horses with either normal joints or joints with different stages of cartilage pathology. The trotters with a training background and cartilage degeneration had low concentrations of COMP and aggrecan in synovial fluid ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - The characterization of versican and its message in human articular cartilage and intervertebral disc. AU - Sztrolovics, Robert. AU - Grover, Judy. AU - Cs-Szabo, Gabriella. AU - Shi, Shui Liang. AU - Zhang, Yiping. AU - Mort, John S.. AU - Roughley, Peter J.. PY - 2002. Y1 - 2002. N2 - Splicing variation of the versican message and size heterogeneity of the versican core protein were analyzed in human articular cartilage and intervertebral disc. Splicing variation of the message was studied by PCR analysis to detect the presence or absence of exons 7 and 8, which encode large chondroitin sulfate attachment regions. At all ages in normal cartilage from the third trimester fetus to the mature adult, the presence of the versican isoform possessing exon 8 but not exon 7 (V1) could be readily detected. The message isoforms possessing neither exon 7 nor 8 (V3) or both exons 7 and 8 (V0) were only detectable in the fetus, and the isoform possessing only exon 7 (V2) was never detected. ...

TY - CHAP. T1 - Pure cartilage-based repair modalities of focal cartilage lesions. AU - Bárdos, T.. PY - 2013/6/1. Y1 - 2013/6/1. N2 - Focal cartilage lesions in diarthrodial joints have a limited capacity to heal, and repair techniques used at present are still unable to provide a universal solution. Osteochondral auto- and allografts are accepted and successful methods for the treatment of these lesions, but occasionally the osseal incorporation is delayed or insufficient and graft integration might be unsuccessful. Failure at this level generates a large osseos crater and the consequences can prove challenging. Until just a few years ago, it was a generally accepted dogma that when cartilage is detached from the subchondral bone it would fail to reintegrate to its bed and its surrounding cartilage. Recently, innovative approaches have been established to repair cartilage defects using pure cartilage-based implants, and so far they seem to have had considerable success. One of the available ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Imaging of immature articular cartilage using ultrasound backscatter microscopy at 50 MHz. AU - Kim, H. K W. AU - Babyn, P. S.. AU - Harasiewicz, K. A.. AU - Gahunia, H. K.. AU - Pritzker, K. P H. AU - Foster, F. S.. PY - 1995/11. Y1 - 1995/11. N2 - A high frequency sonographic technique-ultrasound backscatter microscopy-was used to visualize the subsurface structure of immature porcine articular cartilage from the knee joint. In 20‐week‐old pigs, all parts that were scanned, except the weight‐bearing regions of the femoral condyles, demonstrated heterogeneous ultrasound backscatter characteristics within the articular cartilage. A trilaminar pattern consisting of hypoechoic, hyperechoic, and anechoic layers ranging from superficial to deep generally was observed, except in the weight‐bearing regions of the femoral condyles, where a homogeneous anechoic pattern was seen. In the younger pigs (6 and 10 weeks old), the trilaminar backscatter pattern was not observed. Small, ...

Dr Suzanne Miller in Waltham, Dedham and Boston, MA offers osteochondral autograft transplantation to treat articular cartilage (AC) defects. Articular cartilage can be damaged by trauma such as accidents or mechanical injury.

Aigner, Thomas, Gebhard, Pia Margarethe, Schmid, Erik, Bau, Brigitte, Harley, Vincent and Poschl, Ernst (2003) SOX9 expression does not correlate with type II collagen expression in adult articular chondrocytes. Matrix Biology, 22 (4). pp. 363-372. ISSN 1569-1802 Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy ...

Microfracture surgery is used to repair articular cartilage damage in the knee, is performed by Andrew L DeGruccio in Louisville, Kentucky.

Cartilage lesions are common injury and mostly affect the articular cartilage. Cartilage lesions treatment is offered at Texas Institute for Hip & Knee Surgery in Austin, Texas.

There are many causes for painful worn cartilage in the knee joint: arthritis, arthrosis, traumas with bone- or cartilage lesions or metabolic disorders like gout or hemochromatosis. © bilderzwerg @ fotolia. Osteoarthritis (worn cartilage) is the most common joint condition. The most common form of osteoarthritis is osteoarthritis of the knee. Osteoarthritis of the knee causes chronic pain and limits movement. The cartilage in the knee wears away over many years. Since the cartilage has no sensitive nerve endings (pain sensors), damage is only noticed when the defects already affect the bone beneath the cartilage.. A cartilage transplant, or cartilage cell or chondrocyte transplant, is a new surgical procedure: in which cartilage damage is repaired using cartilage cells from the patients own body. Few knee specialists in Germany successfully perform this procedure. Dr Baum was the first physician in the world to perform an entirely arthroscopic cartilage transplant of the knee. He co-developed ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Expression and regulation of Toll-like receptor 2 by IL-1β and fibronectin fragments in human articular chondrocytes. AU - Su, S. L.. AU - Tsai, C. D.. AU - Lee, C. H.. AU - Salter, D. M.. AU - Lee, Herng Sheng. PY - 2005/10. Y1 - 2005/10. N2 - Objective: The objective of this study was to examine expression and regulation of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) in human articular chondrocytes. Methods: Human articular chondrocytes were enzymatically isolated from normal and osteoarthritic knee cartilage. Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to assess the expression of toll-like receptors. Following stimulation of chondrocytes in vitro by IL-1β and fibronectin proteolytic fragments, the relative levels of mRNA for TLR2 were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. MyD88 activation and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) translocation were evaluated by immunoprecipitation and electrophoretic mobility shift assay, ...

This causes it to heal very slowly. So, you can find hyaline cartilage in the larynx and trachea in the throat portion of the body, and then also in all of the joints where the surfaces of bones are articulating each other. Cartilage is a type of connective tissue found in the body. It has a capacity for rapid interstitial and appositional growth in young and growing tissues. Three types of cartilage(hyaline cartilage, white fibrocartilage, and yellow elastic cartilage) can be distinguished on the basis of the composition and structure of their extracellular matrices, but many features of the cells and matrix are common to all three types, and these features will be considered first. This smooth, transparent, glassy type of cartilage coats the ends … This cartilage is of three types as. Articular cartilage is a physiologically non-self-renewing avascular tissue with a singular cell type, the chondrocyte, which functions as the load-bearing surface of the arthrodial joint. Cartilage is a ...

Bioprinting is a promising tool to fabricate well-organized cell-laden constructs for repair and regener- ation of articular cartilage. The selection of a suitable bioink, in terms of composition and mechanical properties, is crucial for the development of viable cartilage substitutes. In this study, we focused on the use of one of the main cartilage components, hyaluronic acid (HA), to design and formulate a new bioink for cartilage tissue 3D bioprinting. Major characteristics required for this application such as printabil- ity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability were analyzed. To produce cartilage constructs with optimal mechanical properties, HA-based bioink was co-printed with polylactic acid (PLA). HA-based bioink was found to improve cell functionality by an increase in the expression of chondrogenic gene markers and specific matrix deposition and, therefore, tissue formation. These results indicate that it is a promising bioink candidate for cartilage tissue engineering based in 3D ...

0078] The histology of knee cartilage samples taken at different time points was analyzed to observe the repair role of rhMK revealed temporally (FIG. 2). rhMK was shown promoting the repair of rabbit knee full-thickness injuries with regenerated chondrocytes 2 weeks (FIGS. 2 A and B), 4 weeks (FIGS. 2 C and D), and 12 weeks (FIGS. 2 E and F) after the knee surgical operation creating the damage model. The rectangle in FIG. 2 A, C and E marks the areas which are enlarged and shown in FIG. 2 B, D and F, respectively. In Figure A and C, arrow points to the chondrocytes which are growing into the injury site. At 2 weeks after the surgery, although the central area of injury was filled with fibrous cells, incomplete hyaline cartilage layer appeared forming the cylindrical repair cartilage layer (FIG. 2A). The new cartilage layer contained the typical chondrocytes which resided in clusters in specific cartilage lacuna (FIG. 2B). At 4 weeks after the surgery, the complete cylindrical repair cartilage ...

Osteoarthritis (OA), a non-inflammatory, degenerative disease of articular cartilages, is a common cause of poor performance and early retirement in equine athletes. Pathologically, OA is characterized by matrix degradation and decreased chondrocyte numbers. A mechanical stress is believed to be the major etiologic factor of OA development. Recent studies have indicated that apoptosis is responsible for hypocellularity in OA cartilage and that chondrocyte death by apoptosis could directly contribute to matrix degradation. Increased nitric oxide (NO), a free radical, has been implicated as a cause of chondrocyte apoptosis. No studies, however, have been performed on chondrocyte apoptosis in equine OA. We investigated chondrocyte apoptosis in equine OA cartilage and its relationship to matrix degradation and NO production. Furthermore, we studied whether mechanical stress could induce chondrocyte apoptosis and how NO production and Bcl-2 and caspase-3 proteins contribute to chondrocyte apoptosis by using

Patellar luxations contribute to cartilage erosion which can be developing to cartilage degradation. This research divided to 2 studies. The objectives of the first study were to prevalence of cartilage erosion in dogs with patellar luxation and relation between cartilage erosion and severity of patellar luxation. Sixty dogs with patellar luxation, 48.65% was grade III patellar luxation and 35.14 was grade IV patellar luxation. There was a relation between cartilage erosion and severity of patellar luxation. In second study, the objective was to study of gene expression of osteoarthritis in articular cartilage from dogs with patellar luxation. 34 dogs divided into 4 groups, group 1 was dogs with normal articular cartilage (Nor) (n=5), group 2 stifle osteoarthritic dogs (OA) (n=13), group 3 was dogs with patellar luxation and not found cartilage erosion (PL) (n=6), and group 4 was dogs with patellar luxation and found cartilage erosion (PLCE) (n=10). HAS-1, HAS-2, COL2A1, MMP-3, IL-1, AGG-1 and ...

Polymer scaffold use has become commonplace in tissue engineering strategies. Scaffolds provide sturdy interfaces that securely anchor tissue engineered constructs to their designated locations. Researchers have used scaffolds to provide support to developing tissues as well as a growth template to aid the development of the desired phenotypic structure. In addition to using scaffolds for their mechanical support, scaffolds can be used as a diagnostic tool by attaching sensors. Strain gauge sensors have been attached to scaffolds to monitor compression and elongation. These polybutylterphalate (PBT) scaffolds were used in a cartilage tissue-engineering project for femoral cartilage repair. The aim of this project was to measure native cartilage pressure in normal canine stifle joints using strain gauge scaffolds. By using pressure sensitive films to confirm joint surface pressures determined with strain gauge measurements, sensate scaffolds were created to be able to provide in vivo joint ...

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease and a major cause of disability and pain.1 The OA prevalence has doubled since the mid-20th century2 with an expected higher incidence in the future.3 The annual total medical cost per person suffering from OA is on average €11 100.4 Articular cartilage breakdown is the hallmark of OA, with aggrecan loss being an early sign of tissue degeneration. Many factors such as age, body mass index (BMI), knee injury, inflammation, sex and family history independently, and as a result of their interaction, contribute to its development and progression.5 6 For example, approximately every second major knee injury from sports results in OA 10-15 years later,7-9 and it has been estimated that at least 12% of the total burden of knee OA originates from knee injury.10 Hypothetically, interventions targeting younger patients at increased risk of OA (eg, following sports injury), or in the early stages of the disease, increase the chances of slowing ...

Oral administration of doxycycline has been shown to reduce the severity of articular cartilage breakdown in various animal models of osteoarthritis (OA). This disease modifying effect is associated with reductions in the levels of active and total collagenase and gelatinase in extracts of articular …

It is key for successful auricular (AUR) cartilage tissue-engineering (TE) to ensure that the engineered cartilage mimics the mechanics of the native tissue. This study provides a spatial map of the mechanical and biochemical properties of human auricular cartilage, thus establishing a benchmark for the evaluation of functional competency in AUR cartilage TE. Stress-relaxation indentation (instantaneous modulus, Ein; maximum stress, σmax; equilibrium modulus, Eeq; relaxation half-life time, t1/2; thickness, h) and biochemical parameters (content of DNA; sulfated-glycosaminoglycan, sGAG; hydroxyproline, HYP; elastin, ELN) of fresh human AUR cartilage were evaluated. Samples were categorized into age groups and according to their harvesting region in the human auricle (for AUR cartilage only). AUR cartilage displayed significantly lower Ein, σmax, Eeq, sGAG content; and significantly higher t1/2, and DNA content than NAS cartilage. Large amounts of ELN were measured in AUR cartilage (,15% ELN ...

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Our findings show that OVX-induced cessation of endogenous oestrogen production influenced the integrity and morphology of articular cartilage, and EA and ERT prevented the further incidence of cartilage surface erosion in OVX rabbits. Furthermore, EA increased the OVX-induced reduction in serum oestrogens levels while decreasing MMP-13 mRNA and protein levels in OVX rabbits. In addition, the body weight of the rabbits decreased after acupuncture. All of these findings suggest that EA could exert chondroprotective effects by increasing oestrogen levels, inhibiting the production of MMP-13 and reducing body weight.. Studies have shown that OVX cynomolgus monkeys and OVX rats can be used to model postmenopausal OA, which presents OA-like pathological changes.5 ,28 The results are consistent with the results of our study. Several experimental studies have clearly shown that oestrogen increases cartilage turnover and surface erosion through complex molecular mechanisms on multiple levels. In studies ...

If an articular cartilage injury - better described as focal chondral defect - is suspected, your doctor may do a thorough clinical exam and ask about previous injuries and surgeries to the joint; x-rays and a MRI scan of the involved joint; and possibly arthroscopy of the joint.

INTRODUCTION: Lubricin, one of the main lubricating constituents of synovial fluid, has been targeted as a prospective therapeutic option to inhibit the development and progression of osteoarthritis (OA) [1]. Prior in vitro studies have shown lubricin to reduce frictional forces at articular cartilage surfaces by as much as 70% [2]. Numerous analogues of this glycoprotein have been

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common debilitating disease resulting from the degeneration of articular cartilage. The major protein of cartilage is type II collagen, which is encoded by the COL2A1 gene. Mutations at this locus have been discovered in several individuals with inherited disorders of cartilage. We have identified 27 primary OA patients who are heterozygous for sequence dimorphisms located in the coding region of COL2A1. These dimorphisms were used to distinguish the mRNA output from each of the two COL2A1 alleles in articular cartilage obtained from each patient. Three patients demonstrated differential allelic expression and produced | 12% of the normal level of mRNA from one of their COL2A1 alleles. The same allele shows reduced expression in all three patients, and this allele is more frequent in a well-defined OA population than in a control group, suggesting the possible existence of a rare COL2A1 allele that predisposes to OA.