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Spaceflight and hind limb unloading induces an arthritic phenotype in knee articular cartilage and menisci of rodents.

ABSTRACT: Reduced knee weight-bearing from prescription or sedentary lifestyles are associated with cartilage degradation; effects on the meniscus are unclear. Rodents exposed to spaceflight or hind limb unloading (HLU) represent unique opportunities to evaluate this question. This study evaluated arthritic changes in the medial knee compartment that bears the highest loads across the knee after actual and simulated spaceflight, and recovery with subsequent full weight-bearing. Cartilage and meniscal degradation in mice were measured via microCT, histology, and proteomics and/or biochemically after: (1) ~ 35 days on the International Space Station (ISS); (2) 13-days aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis; or (3) 30 days of HLU, followed by a 49-day weight-bearing readaptation with/without exercise. Cartilage degradation post-ISS and HLU occurred at similar spatial locations, the tibial-femoral cartilage-cartilage contact point, with meniscal volume decline. Cartilage and meniscal glycosaminoglycan content were decreased in unloaded mice, with elevated catabolic enzymes (e.g., matrix metalloproteinases), and elevated oxidative stress and catabolic molecular pathway responses in menisci. After the 13-day Shuttle flight, meniscal degradation was observed. During readaptation, recovery of cartilage volume and thickness occurred with exercise. Reduced weight-bearing from either spaceflight or HLU induced an arthritic phenotype in cartilage and menisci, and exercise promoted recovery.

SUBMITTER: Kwok AT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8131644 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Spaceflight and hind limb unloading induces an arthritic phenotype in knee articular cartilage and menisci of rodents.

Kwok Andy T AT Mohamed Nequesha S NS Plate Johannes F JF Yammani Raghunatha R RR Rosas Samuel S Bateman Ted A TA Livingston Eric E Moore Joseph E JE Kerr Bethany A BA Lee Jingyun J Furdui Cristina M CM Tan Li L Bouxsein Mary L ML Ferguson Virginia L VL Stodieck Louis S LS Zawieja David C DC Delp Michael D MD Mao Xiao W XW Willey Jeffrey S JS

Scientific reports 20210518 1

Reduced knee weight-bearing from prescription or sedentary lifestyles are associated with cartilage degradation; effects on the meniscus are unclear. Rodents exposed to spaceflight or hind limb unloading (HLU) represent unique opportunities to evaluate this question. This study evaluated arthritic changes in the medial knee compartment that bears the highest loads across the knee after actual and simulated spaceflight, and recovery with subsequent full weight-bearing. Cartilage and meniscal degr ...[more]

PMID: 34006989

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Project description:An exact understanding of the interplay between the articulating tissues of the knee joint in relation to the osteoarthritis (OA)-related degeneration process is of considerable interest. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to characterize the biomechanical properties of mildly and severely degenerated human knee joints, including their menisci and tibial and femoral articular cartilage (AC) surfaces. A spatial biomechanical mapping of the articulating knee joint surfaces of 12 mildly and 12 severely degenerated human cadaveric knee joints was assessed using a multiaxial mechanical testing machine. To do so, indentation stress relaxation tests were combined with thickness and water content measurements at the lateral and medial menisci and the AC of the tibial plateau and femoral condyles to calculate the instantaneous modulus (IM), relaxation modulus, relaxation percentage, maximum applied force during the indentation, and the water content. With progressing joint degeneration, we found an increase in the lateral and the medial meniscal instantaneous moduli (p < 0.02), relaxation moduli (p < 0.01), and maximum applied forces (p < 0.01), while for the underlying tibial AC, the IM (p = 0.01) and maximum applied force (p < 0.01) decreased only at the medial compartment. Degeneration had no influence on the relaxation percentage of the soft tissues. While the water content of the menisci did not change with progressing degeneration, the severely degenerated tibial AC contained more water (p < 0.04) compared to the mildly degenerated tibial cartilage. The results of this study indicate that degeneration-related (bio-)mechanical changes seem likely to be first detectable in the menisci before the articular knee joint cartilage is affected. Should these findings be further reinforced by structural and imaging analyses, the treatment and diagnostic paradigms of OA might be modified, focusing on the early detection of meniscal degeneration and its respective treatment, with the final aim to delay osteoarthritis onset.

Dataset Information

Spaceflight and hind limb unloading induces an arthritic phenotype in knee articular cartilage and menisci of rodents.

Publications

Spaceflight and hind limb unloading induces an arthritic phenotype in knee articular cartilage and menisci of rodents.

Similar Datasets

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