OBJECTIVE
To investigate compositional cartilage changes measured with 3T MRI-based T2 values over 48 months in overweight and obese individuals with different degrees of weight loss and to study whether weight loss slows knee cartilage degeneration and symptom worsening.
DESIGN
We studied participants from the Osteoarthritis Initiative with risk factors or radiographic evidence of mild to moderate knee OA with a baseline BMI ≥25kg/m2. We selected subjects who over 48 months lost a, moderate (BMI change, 5-10%, n=180) or large amount of weight (≥10%, n=78) and frequency-matched these to individuals with stable weight relative to their baseline BMI (<3%, n=258). T2 maps of the cartilage compartments of the right knee, grey-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) texture and laminar analyses were evaluated and associations with weight loss and clinical symptoms (WOMAC subscales for pain, stiffness and disability) were assessed using multivariable regression models adjusting for age, sex, baseline BMI and KL.
RESULTS
The amount of weight change was significantly associated with change in cartilage T2 of the medial tibia (β 0.9ms, 95%CI 0.4 to 1.1, P=0.001). An increase of T2 in the medial tibia was significantly associated with an increase in WOMAC pain (β 0.5ms, 95%CI 0.2 to 0.6, P=0.02) and disability (β 0.03ms, 95%CI 0.003 to 0.05, P=0.03. GLCM contrast and variance over all compartments showed significantly less progression in the >10% weight loss group compared to the stable weight group (both comparisons, P=0.04).
CONCLUSIONS
Weight loss over 48 months is associated with slowed knee cartilage degeneration and improved knee symptoms.
Objectives
To investigate the change in cartilage T2-values and structural degeneration in knee joints over 72 months in women of African American (AA) vs. Caucasian American (CA) ethnicity.
Methods
Knee 3T MRIs from baseline, 24, 48 and 72 month visits of 100 AA and 100 CA women from the OAI were assessed for cartilage T2-values and whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging (WORMS) score. Subjects were pair-matched by age, BMI, Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) score, clinical site and subcohort within the OAI. We compared the rate of change in whole knee cartilage T2-values and WORMS cartilage, bone marrow edema pattern (BMEP) and meniscus scores between the two ethnic groups using mixed random effects models.
Results
At 24 and 48 months 60 subjects and at 72 months 45 subjects per group were available for analysis resulting in 38 complete pairs with data of all time points. Compared to CA, cartilage T2-values in AA increased at a significantly faster rate at baseline (AA: 0.45ms/y, CA: 0.35ms/y, p=0.029) and averaged over 6 years (AA: 0.36ms/y, CA: 0.27ms/y, p=0.039) with changes in both groups reaching a plateau by 48 months. Cartilage, meniscus and BMEP scores tended to increase in both groups during follow-up, but rates of change did not differ by ethnicity.
Conclusion
Cartilage T2-values increased faster over 72 months in AA than CA, however changes in WORMS cartilage, meniscus and BMEP scores did not differ. T2-values may be able to distinguish ethnicity-related differences of cartilage degeneration at an early stage before differences in structural joint degeneration appear.
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