Axial alignment is a critical regulator of knee osteoarthritis

Although osteoarthritis (OA), a leading cause of disability, has been associated with joint malalignment, scientific translational evidence for this link is lacking. In a clinical case study, we provide evidence of osteochondral recovery upon unloading symptomatic isolated medial tibiofemoral knee O...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science translational medicine 2022-01, Vol.14 (629), p.eabn0179-eabn0179
Main Authors: Oláh, Tamás, Reinhard, Jan, Laschke, Matthias W, Goebel, Lars K H, Walter, Frédéric, Schmitt, Gertrud, Speicher-Mentges, Susanne, Menger, Michael D, Cucchiarini, Magali, Pape, Dietrich, Madry, Henning
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arthritis
Cartilage
Cartilage (articular)
Cartilage diseases
Case studies
Degeneration
Knee
Osteoarthritis
Phenotypes
Subchondral bone
Translation
Unloading
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Although osteoarthritis (OA), a leading cause of disability, has been associated with joint malalignment, scientific translational evidence for this link is lacking. In a clinical case study, we provide evidence of osteochondral recovery upon unloading symptomatic isolated medial tibiofemoral knee OA associated with varus malalignment. By mapping response correlations at high resolution, we identify spatially complex degenerative changes in cartilage after overloading in a clinically relevant ovine model. We further report that unloading diminishes OA cartilage degeneration and alterations of critical parameters of the subchondral bone plate in a similar topographic fashion. Last, therapeutic unloading shifted the articular cartilage and subchondral bone phenotype to normal and restored several physiological correlations disturbed in neutral and varus OA, suggesting a protective effect on the integrity of the entire osteochondral unit. Collectively, these findings identify modifiable trajectories with considerable translational potential to reduce the burden of human OA.
ISSN:1946-6234
1946-6242
1946-3242
DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.abn0179