Characterization of rodent gait in two models of osteoarthritic pain

Abstract

Conclusions:The results of this study support the hypothesis that side to side differences in mean full thickness UTE-T2* qMRI correlate with side to side differences in knee kinematics at 2 years after ACLR. The finding that a more lateral KCOR in the ACLR knee correlates with UTE T2* values in the medial tibia that were higher than the contralateral side suggests that this kinematic change, which has been previously shown to result in more relative motion between the femur and tibia in the medial compartment, could be affecting subsurface matrix integrity, inducing changes detectable by UTE-T2* mapping. Additionally, the finding that a more posterior KCOR in the ACLR knee correlated with UTE-T2* values in the lateral tibia that were lower than the contralateral knee further suggests that the UTE-T2* metric may reflect early changes in cartilage health. When interpreted within the context of prior work showing that a posterior shift in KCOR from 2 to 4 years post-surgery correlated with improved clinical outcomes at 8 years, the observed lower UTE-T2* with a more posterior KCOR, which is reflective of improved quadriceps recruitment, suggests positive cartilage matrix properties. In spite of the limitations of this cross-sectional and exploratory study, and the difficulty accounting for changes in the contralateral knee, these results support future studies of the relationship between UTE-T2* and KCOR to provide new insight into predicting the risk for OA after ACLR.