The Effect of Risk Factors on the Levels of Chemical Elements in the Tibial Plateau of Patients with Osteoarthritis following Knee Surgery

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the aforementioned chemical elements in tibial plateau samples obtained during knee arthroplasty. The gender-specific analysis of chemical element levels in the bone samples revealed that there were statistically significant differences in the concentration of Pb and Se/Pb ratio. The contents of elements in the tibial plateau in the patients with osteoarthritis (OA) can be arranged in the following descending order: F− > K > Zn > Fe > Sr > Pb > Mn > Se > Cd > THg. We observed statistical significant effects of environmental factors including smoking, seafood diet, and geographical distribution on the levels of the elements in tibial bone. Significant positive correlation coefficients were found for the relationships K-Cd, Zn-Sr, Zn-F−, THg-Pb, Pb-Cd, Se-Se/Pb, Se-Se/Cd, Se/Pb-Se/Cd, Pb-Cd/Ca, Cd-Cd/Ca, and F−-F−/Ca·1000. Significant negative correlations were found for the relationships THg-Se/Pb, Pb-Se/Pb, Cd-Se/Pb, K-Se/Cd, Pb-Se/Cd, Cd-Se/Cd, THg-Se/THg, Pb-Se/THg, Se-Pb/Cd, Zn-Cd/Ca, and Se/Cd-Cd/Ca. The results reported here may provide a basis for establishing reference values for the tibial plateau in patients with OA who had undergone knee replacement surgery. The concentrations of elements in the bone with OA were determined by age, presence of implants, smoking, fish and seafood diet, and sport activity.

The Content of Structural and Trace Elements in the Knee Joint Tissues

“…In her study, the content of strontium in the tibia was 44.10 µg/g as compared to 26.64 µg/g in our research. On the other hand, the content of lead was higher in our study (2.67) than in the research conducted by Lanocha-Arendarczyk et al [ 44 ]. The differences seem to depend on the place of residence of the study participants.…”

“…Lanocha-Arendarczyk et al [ 44 ] examined patients from the north of Poland, i.e., poorly industrialized region, whereas patients from our study inhabited the highly industrialized region of Upper Silesia. Both in our study and in the research conducted by Lanocha-Arendarczyk et al [ 44 ], women showed higher levels of strontium and lower concentrations of lead as compared to male patients. However, statistically significant sex-dependent differences in lead content were confirmed only in our study (Mann–Whitney U test, p = 0.011).…”

“…Patients with OA had higher levels of Cu, higher Cu/Zn ratio and lower concentrations of Zn and Se in the serum, and these alterations were correlated with the disease duration and intensity [ 42 ]. Lanocha-Arendarczyk et al [ 44 ] investigated the content of elements in the human tibia plateau from patients after knee surgery. In her study, the content of strontium in the tibia was 44.10 µg/g as compared to 26.64 µg/g in our research.…”

Influence of Environmental Factors and Relationships between Vanadium, Chromium, and Calcium in Human Bone

“…The well-studied long-term accumulation of trace elements as a result of environmental exposure [ 1 – 4 ] can be adequately assessed using bone tissues, thanks to the long-term nature of bone remodeling processes [ 5 ]. This information about metal levels in hard tissues can be useful for evaluating nutrition rules and for prevention and control strategies of various diseases caused by imbalances in trace elements [ 3 , 5 ]. However, analyses of chemical elements in human bones rarely take into account the structural division of bones into cartilage, cortical bone, and spongy bone [ 5 , 6 ].…”

“…This information about metal levels in hard tissues can be useful for evaluating nutrition rules and for prevention and control strategies of various diseases caused by imbalances in trace elements [ 3 , 5 ]. However, analyses of chemical elements in human bones rarely take into account the structural division of bones into cartilage, cortical bone, and spongy bone [ 5 , 6 ]. This approach neglects the fact that metabolism in the spongy bone is eight times faster than in the cortical bone, resulting in an earlier emergence of pathophysiological changes and faster response to therapy.…”