Effects of growth and exercise on composition, structural maturation and appearance of osteoarthritis in articular cartilage of hamsters.

Articular cartilage composition and structure are maintained and remodeled by chondrocytes under the influence of loading. Exercise-induced changes in the composition, structure, mechanical properties and tissue integrity of growing and aging hamster articular cartilage were investigated. Articular cartilage samples (n = 191) were harvested from the proximal tibiae of hamsters aged 1, 3, 6, 12 and 15 months. The hamsters were divided into runners and controls. The runners had free access to a running wheel between 1 and 3 months (runner groups 3-, 12- and 15-month-old hamsters) or 1 and 6 months (runner group 6-month-old hamsters) of age. Control animals were subjected to a sedentary lifestyle. Mechanical indentation tests and depth-wise compositional and structural analyses were performed for the cartilage samples. Furthermore, the integrity of articular cartilage was assessed using histological osteoarthritis grading. Exercise affected the collagen network organization after a 5-month exercise period, especially in the middle and deep zones. However, no effect on the mechanical properties was detected after exercise. Before the age of 12 months, the runners showed less osteoarthritis than the controls, whereas at 15 months of age the situation was reversed. It is concluded that, in hamsters, physical exercise at a young age enhances cartilage maturation and alters the depth-wise cartilage structure and composition. This may be considered beneficial. However, exercise at a young age demonstrated adverse effects on cartilage at a later age with a significant increase in the incidence of osteoarthritis.

Comparison of single-phase isotropic elastic and fibril-reinforced poroelastic models for indentation of rabbit articular cartilage.

Classically, single-phase isotropic elastic (IE) model has been used for in situ or in vivo indentation analysis of articular cartilage. The model significantly simplifies cartilage structure and properties. In this study, we apply a fibril-reinforced poroelastic (FRPE) model for indentation to extract more detailed information on cartilage properties. Specifically, we compare the information from short-term (instantaneous) and long-term (equilibrium) indentations, as described here by IE and FRPE models. Femoral and tibial cartilage from rabbit (age 0-18 months) knees (n=14) were tested using a plane-ended indenter (diameter=0.544 mm). Stepwise creep tests were conducted to equilibrium. Single-phase IE solution for indentation was used to derive instantaneous modulus and equilibrium (Young's) modulus for the samples. The classical and modified Hayes' solutions were used to derive values for the indentation moduli. In the FRPE model, the indentation behavior was sample-specifically described with three material parameters, i.e. fibril network modulus, non-fibrillar matrix modulus and permeability. The instantaneous and fibril network modulus, and the equilibrium Young's modulus and non-fibrillar matrix modulus showed significant (p<0.01) linear correlations of R(2)=0.516 and 0.940, respectively (Hayes' solution) and R(2)=0.531 and 0.960, respectively (the modified Hayes' solution). No significant correlations were found between the non-fibrillar matrix modulus and instantaneous moduli or between the fibril network modulus and the equilibrium moduli. These results indicate that the instantaneous indentation modulus (IE model) provides information on tensile stiffness of collagen fibrils in cartilage while the equilibrium modulus (IE model) is a significant measure for stiffness of PG matrix. Thereby, this study highlights the feasibility of a simple indentation analysis.