TY - JOUR
T1 - Solute transport at the interface of cartilage and subchondral bone plate
T2 - Effect of micro-architecture
AU - Pouran, Behdad
AU - Arbabi, Vahid
AU - Bleys, Ronald L.A.W.
AU - van Weeren, P. Rene
AU - Zadpoor, Amir
AU - Weinans, Harrie
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Cross-talk of subchondral bone and articular cartilage could be an important aspect in the etiology of osteoarthritis. Previous research has provided some evidence of transport of small molecules (~370 Da) through the calcified cartilage and subchondral bone plate in murine osteoarthritis models. The current study, for the first time, uses a neutral diffusing computed tomography (CT) contrast agent (iodixanol, ~1550 Da) to study the permeability of the osteochondral interface in equine and human samples. Sequential CT monitoring of diffusion after injecting a finite amount of contrast agent solution onto the cartilage surface using a micro-CT showed penetration of the contrast molecules across the cartilage-bone interface. Moreover, diffusion through the cartilage-bone interface was affected by thickness and porosity of the subchondral bone as well as the cartilage thickness in both human and equine samples. Our results revealed that porosity of the subchondral plate contributed more strongly to the diffusion across osteochondral interface compared to other morphological parameters in healthy equine samples. However, thickness of the subchondral plate contributed more strongly to the diffusion in slightly osteoarthritic human samples.
AB - Cross-talk of subchondral bone and articular cartilage could be an important aspect in the etiology of osteoarthritis. Previous research has provided some evidence of transport of small molecules (~370 Da) through the calcified cartilage and subchondral bone plate in murine osteoarthritis models. The current study, for the first time, uses a neutral diffusing computed tomography (CT) contrast agent (iodixanol, ~1550 Da) to study the permeability of the osteochondral interface in equine and human samples. Sequential CT monitoring of diffusion after injecting a finite amount of contrast agent solution onto the cartilage surface using a micro-CT showed penetration of the contrast molecules across the cartilage-bone interface. Moreover, diffusion through the cartilage-bone interface was affected by thickness and porosity of the subchondral bone as well as the cartilage thickness in both human and equine samples. Our results revealed that porosity of the subchondral plate contributed more strongly to the diffusion across osteochondral interface compared to other morphological parameters in healthy equine samples. However, thickness of the subchondral plate contributed more strongly to the diffusion in slightly osteoarthritic human samples.
KW - Osteochondral interface
KW - Micro-computed tomography
KW - Iodixanol diffusion
KW - Subchondral plate thickness and porosity
KW - Articular cartilage
KW - Osteoarthritis
U2 - 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2016.12.025
DO - 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2016.12.025
M3 - Article
SN - 0021-9290
VL - 52
SP - 148
EP - 154
JO - Journal of Biomechanics
JF - Journal of Biomechanics
ER -