One-year changes in hind limb kinematics, ground reaction forces and knee stability in an experimental model of osteoarthritis
Introduction
Acute joint injuries often produce long-term problems and have been found to result in an increased incidence of osteoarthritis (OA, Noyes et al., 1983). Various animal models have been used to simulate the pathological events associated with OA and to study the mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of the joint degeneration. Mechanical factors such as joint instabilities and changes in loading characteristics following injury or experimental intervention (e.g. anterior cruciate ligament transection, ACLT) have been attributed a key function in the onset and pathogenesis of OA in the joint and the articular cartilage (Herzog et al., 1993; Moskowitz, 1977). Following ACLT, unloading of the transected hind limb in dogs and cats was observed. The altered loading pattern was reflected by changes in the kinematics and the vertical ground reaction forces (Hasler, 1996; Herzog et al., 1993; Korvick et al., 1994; O’Connor et al., 1989; Threlkeld et al., 1993; Vilensky et al., 1994; Visco et al., 1990), which did not recover to pre-intervention values within three to six months post ACLT (O’Connor et al., 1989; Threlkeld et al., 1993; Visco et al., 1990). The changes in hind limb kinematics and kinetics were associated with histological and biochemical adaptations in the articular cartilage, which approximate the human condition (Adams and Brandt, 1991; Brandt et al., 1991a, Brandt et al., 1991b; Dedrick et al., 1993; Herzog et al., 1993).
Little information is available on the long-term effects of ACLT in experimental models of OA. There is only a single study in which the full time course of OA was investigated in three dogs (Brandt et al., 1991a, Brandt et al., 1991b). At 36 months post ACLT, MRI demonstrated thickening of the cartilage in the transected limb, indicating a stage of hypertrophic cartilage repair. Nine months later, focal loss of the cartilage was observed, which resulted in a full-thickness loss of the cartilage on the medial femoral condyles at 54 months post ACLT. Vertical ground reaction forces of the transected hind limbs measured at 24, 36 and 45 months post ACLT were about 50% of body weight compared to 65% of body weight in the contralateral hind limbs. The small number of animals, the limited number of experimental observations, and the restriction to a uni-directional (vertical) ground reaction force analysis give only limited insight into the time history of the mechanical events associated with OA.
The present study was aimed at describing long-term changes in the three-dimensional external loading, hind limb kinematics and knee joint stability in a ACL-transected cat model of OA. It was hypothesized that ACLT causes instability and unloading of the injured joint which would be associated with degenerative, osteoarthritic changes in the knee. It was further speculated that, in contrast to the dog, the loading characteristics would return to normal, pre-transection values over time. The present data represent a one-year follow-up for seven cats, which will be monitored until a full thickness loss of the cartilage occurs.
Section snippets
Methods
Seven skeletally mature male cats (mean mass 4.6± 1.4 kg) were studied. The study was approved by the Committee on Animal Ethics at The University of Calgary. ACLTs were performed on the left hind limbs of each animal using an established protocol (Herzog et al., 1993).
External loading was measured using two force platforms (Herzog et al., 1993). Vertical (Fz), anterior–posterior (Fy) and medial–lateral (Fx) ground reaction forces were recorded at 200 Hz per channel. During each experimental
Ground reaction forces pre and immediately (1–3 weeks) following ACLT
Typical examples of a single step of the same cat before ACLT and one week after ACLT are shown in Fig. 1aFig. 1b, respectively. Following ACLT, the magnitude of was decreased in the experimental hind limbs, and increased in the contralateral hind limbs (Fig. 2a), and the typical bimodal shape of the Fz force–time curve (Fig. 1a) was changed to a unimodal shape (Fig. 1b). The magnitudes of the anterior–posterior ground reaction forces were also decreased immediately following ACLT;
Discussion
It is generally accepted that changes in joint mechanics following injury trigger adaptive responses which may lead to joint degeneration and OA (Moskowitz, 1977; Radin et al., 1972). The relationship between joint mechanics and the time history of OA has not been studied systematically. Except for pilot work on a limited number of animals, few time points, and restricted kinematic and kinetic descriptors (Korvick et al., 1994; O’Connor et al., 1989; Threlkeld et al., 1993; Visco et al., 1990),
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by grants from the Medical Research Council Canada, The Arthritis Society of Canada and the Foundation for Biomedical Research, Switzerland.
References (19)
- et al.
Hindlimb loading, morphology and biochemistry of articular cartilage in the ACL-deficient cat knee
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
(1993) - et al.
Three-dimensional kinematics of the intact and anterior cruciate ligament-deficient stifle of dogs
Journal of Biomechanics
(1994) - et al.
Hypertrophic repair of canine articular cartilage in osteoarthritis after anterior cruciate ligament transection
Journal of Rheumatology
(1991) - et al.
Gait adaptations by patients who have a deficient anterior-cruciate ligament
Journal of Bone Joint Surgery
(1990) - et al.
Anterior (cranial) cruciate ligament transection in the doga bona fide model of osteoarthritis, not merely of cartilage injury and repair
Journal of Rheumatology
(1991) - et al.
Osteoarthritic changes in canine articular cartilage, subchondral bone and synovium fifty-four months after transection of the anterior cruciate ligament
Arthritis Rheumatology
(1991) - et al.
A longitudinal study of subchondral plate and trabecular bone in cruciate-deficient dogs with osteoarthritis followed up to 54 months
Arthritis Rheumatology
(1993) In vivo knee joint loading before and after ACL transection in an animal model .PhD. thesis
(1996)Longitudinal measurements of tibial motion relative to the femur during passive displacements and femoral nerve stimulation in the ACL-deficient cat model of osteoarthritis. PhD. thesis
(1996)
Cited by (76)
Computed tomography is superior to radiography for detection of feline elbow osteoarthritis
2021, Research in Veterinary ScienceThe Role of Muscles in Knee Joint Osteoarthritis
2021, Sports Orthopaedics and TraumatologyCitation Excerpt :Muscle weakness, induced by controlled injection of botulinum toxin type-A into the quadriceps muscles, produced knee osteoarthritis reliably in rabbits [54]. Post-traumatic pre-clinical models of osteoarthritis are also associated with muscle atrophy and muscle weakening, and are associated with an unloading of the knee in the early phases post trauma in some animals [39,40,43], and with a permanent unloading in other animals [70]. Similarly, obesity is associated with muscle atrophy relative to body mass, fat infiltration, fibrosis and local inflammation in the quadriceps muscles of rats and a corresponding degeneration of the knee [23,66].
The natural initiation and progression of osteoarthritis in the anterior cruciate ligament deficient feline knee
2019, Osteoarthritis and CartilageCitation Excerpt :Especially cats showed a slow initiation of OA similar to that observed in humans9. Moreover, significant changes in joint kinetics and kinematics from the normal locomotion pattern have been observed as early as 1 week following ACL transection that recovered to near pre-surgical patterns within the first year after ACL transection in cat8,10. The advantage of these models is that joint instability is caused by isolated transection of the ACL while all other structures remain intact allowing to study the effect of instability without other injury on joint degeneration.
Asymmetrical loading during sit-to-stand movement in patients 1 year after total hip arthroplasty
2018, Clinical BiomechanicsDoes crutch length influence gait parameters after total hip replacement surgery?
2018, Gait and Posture