Chondropathy after meniscal tear or partial meniscectomy in a canine model

Abstract

A primary goal in considering treatment for meniscal injuries is the preservation of the health of the articular cartilage. However, the chondroprotective effects of various techniques for meniscal injury treatments are unknown. We used a canine model to quantify articular cartilage degeneration in the medial compartment of the canine knee, resulting from a surgically created tear or a partial meniscectomy (PM) of the posterior region of the medial meniscus (each group, n = 10). After sacrifice at 12 weeks, the development of gross chondropathy and the changes in cartilage tensile stiffness were quantified, and correlations between these measurements were examined. Both treatment surgical treatment groups caused significantly greater gross chondropathy as compared to the unoperated contralateral controls. Cartilage tensile stiffness was significantly lower than unoperated controls by nearly 28% in both experimental groups. However, there were no significant differences observed between the gross chondropathy or the cartilage mechanical property changes between the experimental groups. Importantly, the severity of gross chondropathy was found to significantly correlate with the decrement in tensile stiffness properties of the articular cartilage. These findings indicate that significant degeneration of canine articular cartilage develops to a similar degree in the presence of a partially healed meniscus tear or a PM of the knee.

Tissue Engineering for Total Meniscal Substitution: Animal Study in Sheep Model

“…Injury or loss of meniscal tissue potentially leads to pain, knee dysfunction, and osteoarthritis at long term. [1][2][3] Healing of ruptured menisci is usually limited to the vascularized areas in the outer onethird of the meniscus. 4,5 Studies have demonstrated that healing of the knee is inversely related to the amount of meniscal tissue resected.…”

Inhibition of Matrix Metalloproteinases Enhances In Vitro Repair of the Meniscus

“…In addition to the pain and loss of function associated with a meniscal tear, damage and degenerative changes in the meniscus ultimately lead to loss of cartilage and development of OA [13,29,49,60], with 2 . 3 of patients having radiographic knee OA develop within 5 to 15 years [37].…”

Enhanced integrative repair of the porcine meniscus in vitro by inhibition of interleukin‐1 or tumor necrosis factor α

“…In addition to the pain and loss of function associated with the initial meniscal injury, damage or loss of meniscal tissue is associated with degenerative changes in the joint that ultimately lead to osteoarthritis (OA) (12)(13)(14). Studies of an ovine model of meniscal repair have shown that unrepaired and failed repair of the meniscus leads to the development of tibiofemoral and patellofemoral OA within 6 months of a radial meniscal tear (15).…”

“…Studies of an ovine model of meniscal repair have shown that unrepaired and failed repair of the meniscus leads to the development of tibiofemoral and patellofemoral OA within 6 months of a radial meniscal tear (15). In addition, both partial meniscectomy and partially healed meniscal incisions in a canine model were shown to result in significant increases in cartilage chondropathy and decreased cartilage tensile properties (12). Furthermore, studies in patients with symptomatic knee OA have revealed that both meniscal damage and malposition are associated with an increased risk of cartilage loss (16).…”