Abstract | OBJECTIVE: METHODS: One hundred twenty patients with end-stage OA undergoing total knee replacement were prospectively evaluated. Cartilage calcification was studied by conventional x-ray radiography, digital-contact radiography (DCR), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and synovial fluid analysis. Cartilage calcification findings were correlated with scores of knee function as well as histologic changes and chondrocyte hypertrophy as analyzed in vitro. RESULTS: DCR revealed mineralization in all cartilage specimens. Its extent correlated significantly with the Hospital for Special Surgery knee score but not with age. FE-SEM analysis showed that BCPs, rather than CPPD, were the prominent minerals. On histologic analysis, it was observed that mineralization correlated with the expression of type X collagen, a marker of chondrocyte hypertrophy. Moreover, there was a strong correlation between the extent of mineralization in vivo and the ability of chondrocytes to produce BCPs in vitro. The induction of hypertrophy in healthy human chondrocytes resulted in a prominent mineralization of the extracellular matrix. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that mineralization of articular cartilage by BCP is an indissociable process of OA and does not characterize a specific subset of the disease, which has important consequences in the development of therapeutic strategies for patients with OA.
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Authors | M Fuerst, J Bertrand, L Lammers, R Dreier, F Echtermeyer, Y Nitschke, F Rutsch, F K W Schäfer, O Niggemeyer, J Steinhagen, C H Lohmann, T Pap, W Rüther |
Journal | Arthritis and rheumatism
(Arthritis Rheum)
Vol. 60
Issue 9
Pg. 2694-703
(Sep 2009)
ISSN: 0004-3591 [Print] United States |
PMID | 19714647
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Chemical References |
- Calcium Phosphates
- Collagen Type X
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Topics |
- Adolescent
- Aged
- Aged, 80 and over
- Calcinosis
(diagnostic imaging, metabolism, pathology)
- Calcium Phosphates
(metabolism)
- Cartilage, Articular
(diagnostic imaging, metabolism, pathology)
- Case-Control Studies
- Cells, Cultured
- Chondrocytes
(metabolism, pathology, ultrastructure)
- Collagen Type X
(metabolism)
- Extracellular Matrix
(metabolism)
- Female
- Humans
- Hypertrophy
- Male
- Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
- Middle Aged
- Osteoarthritis
(diagnostic imaging, metabolism, pathology)
- Prospective Studies
- Radiographic Image Enhancement
- Severity of Illness Index
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