Principal Investigator: R. Lane Smith, PhD Project Staff: Dennis R. Carter, PhD; Gary S. Beaupré, PhD; Derek P. Lindsey, MS; G. Sims, MD; J. Zauner, MD; S.B. Goodman, MD; and D.J. Schurman, MD Project Category: Arthritis - 2001 Objective: The long-term objective of this research is to provide clinically applicable methods to stimulate articular cartilage repair. This study will investigate the effects of daily treatment of human osteoarthritic cartilage with intermittent hydrostatic pressure to: (1) restore mechanical stiffness to reinstate joint function; and (2) replenish normal glycosaminoglycan content in transplantable plugs. Research Plan: The work proposed here addresses the hypothesis that repair and regeneration of articular cartilage requires specific mechanical loading regimens for generation of a functional articular cartilage extracellular matrix. The specific hypotheses to be tested are that intermittent hydrostatic pressure applied (1) in variable levels and (2) at varying frequencies will catalyze the repair of human osteoarthritic articular cartilage. The objective is to apply hydrostatic pressure to full thickness explants of human osteoarthritic articular cartilage and quantify the extent of tissue repair by quantification of mechanical loading properties. The experiments will test two specific hypotheses that propose that the effects of mechanical loading with a daily regimen of intermittent hydrostatic pressure on cartilage will increase: (1) resistance to indentation loading of OA cartilage and (2) result in a restoration of glycosaminoglycan content as a specific marker of normal cartilage extracellular matrix. Work Accomplished: Three manuscripts are in preparation describing the effect of intermittent hydrostatic pressure on normal and osteoarthritic cartilage. Three abstracts were accepted for presentation at national meeting, two in 2001 and one in 2002. Funding Source: VA RR&D Merit Review Funding Status: Approved |
