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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 33/11/1647    most recent 0363546505275487v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Strauss, E. J. Articles by Nixon, A. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Strauss, E. J. Articles by Nixon, A. J. Related Collections Animal studies Biomechanics Degenerative Joint Disease Chondral/cartilage

Biochemical and Biomechanical Properties of Lesion and Adjacent Articular Cartilage After Chondral Defect Repair in an Equine Model

Eric J. Strauss, MD^*,, Laurie R. Goodrich, DVM, PhD, Chih-Tung Chen, PhD, Chisa Hidaka, MD and Alan J. Nixon, BVSc, MS

From the Laboratory for Soft Tissue Research, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, New York, and the Comparative Orthopaedics Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

^* Address correspondence to Eric J. Strauss, MD, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021 (e-mail: ejs2002{at}med.cornell.edu).

Background: Chondral defects may lead to degradative changes in the surrounding cartilage, predisposing patients to developing osteoarthritis.

Purpose: To quantify changes in the biomechanical and biochemical properties of the articular cartilage adjacent to chondral defects after experimental defect repair.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Methods: Specimens were harvested from tissue within (lesion), immediately adjacent to, and at a distance from (remote area) a full-thickness cartilage defect 8 months after cartilage repair with genetically modified chondrocytes expressing insulin-like growth factor–I or unmodified, control chondrocytes. Biomechanical properties, including instantaneous Young’s and equilibrium aggregate moduli, were determined by confined compression testing. Biochemical properties, such as water and proteoglycan content, were also measured.

Results: The instantaneous Young’s modulus, equilibrium modulus, and proteoglycan content increased, whereas water content decreased with increasing distance from the repaired lesion. The instantaneous Young’s and equilibrium moduli of the adjacent articular cartilage were 80% and 50% that of remote area samples, respectively, whereas water content increased 0.9% and proteoglycan content was decreased by 35%. No significant changes in biomechanical and biochemical properties were found either in the lesion tissue or in adjacent cartilage with genetic modification of the chondrocytes.

Conclusion: Articular cartilage adjacent to repaired chondral defects showed significant remodeling 8 months after chondral defect repair, regardless of whether genetically modified or unmodified cells were implanted.

Clinical Relevance: Changes in the biochemical and biomechanical properties of articular cartilage adjacent to repaired chondral defects may represent remodeling as part of an adaptive process or degeneration secondary to an altered distribution of joint forces. Quantification of these changes could provide important parameters for assessing progress after operative chondral defect repair.

Key Words: chondral defect repair • biochemical and biomechanical properties • articular cartilage • confined compression testing

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