Compression articular cartilage

Lai, W.M. and Mow, V.C. (1980) Drag-induced compression of articular cartilage during a permeation experiment. Biorheology, 17, 111-123. 

In articular cartilage, streaming potentials have been demonstrated by permeation experiments and confined compression experiments [2, 4, 7, 9, 14, 15], In the permeation experiments, a hydrostatic pressure gradient is applied across the sample. The pressure generates a fluid flow and a streaming potential that can be measured [9, 15]. 

Grodzinsky, A.J., Lipshitz, H. and Glimcher, MJ. (1978) Electromechanical properties of articular cartilage during compression and stress-relaxation. Nature 275, 448 150... 

Figure 9.6. Diagram illustrating the pretension present in the superficial zone of articular cartilage. Normal articular cartilage shown at the top is loaded in tension across the surface like a drumhead that is pulled taut over a drum. When a piece of cartilage is cut from the surface, it curls as a result of release of this tension, as shown in the lower diagram. The presence of tension in the superficial zone makes articular cartilage behave like a drumhead, allowing compressive forces applied to the surface at specific points to be distributed across the surface to lower local stresses. The presence of tension on the chondrocytes in the superficial layer may be important to limit inflammation and support reparative processes by stimulating mechanochemical transduction.

Loening AM, James IE, Levenston ME, Badger AM, Frank EH, Kurz B, Nuttall ME, Hung H-H, Blake SM, Grodzinsky AJ, Lark MW. Injurious mechanical compression of bovine articular cartilage indices chondrocyte apoptosis. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2000 381 205-212. 

Wong M, Siegrist M, Cao X. Cyclic compression of articular cartilage explants is associated with progressive consolidation and altered expression pattern extracellular matrix proteins. Matrix Biol. 1999 18 391-399. 

In studies of a completely different type of porous structure, Lipshitz and Etheredge [24] showed that articular cartilage is anisotropic in flow of interstitial fluid and that its properties are a function of the impedence to flow during and following compression. 

Fluid Exudation and the Load-Deformation Properties of Articular Cartilage During Compression... 

Lipshitz, H., "Consideration of the load-deformation and load-dissipation characteristics of articular cartilage in compression." (in preparation). 

Articular cartilage is a complex composite polymeric material that consists principally of a network of collagen (in various states of aggregation), protein-polysaccharides, living cells (chondrocytes) and Inorganic ions. The latter are primarily counterions to the charged moieties of the polyelectrolytes of the matrix. The entire network is swollen with water, a major fraction of which is in regions between its fibrous elements. On compression this water is exuded. The tissue s network structure, composition, and equilibrium fluid contents vary with depth from the surface ( >A> ) Its structure and chemical composition have been extensively reviewed ... 

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