OBJECTIVE To determine and correlate subchondral bone mineral density and overlying cartilage structure and tensile integrity in mature healthy equine stifle (low magnitude loading) and metacarpophalangeal (high magnitude loading) joints. ANIMALS 8 healthy horses, 2 to 3 years of age. PROCEDURE Osteochondral samples were acquired from the medial femoral condyle (FC) and medial trochlear rid...

Urodele amphibians, such as newts, can regenerate a functional limb, including joints, after amputation at any level along the proximal-distal axis of the limb. The blastema can regenerate the limb morphology largely independently of the stump after proximal-distal identity has been established, but the remaining and regenerated tissues must be structurally reintegrated (matched in size and sha...

Joint destruction and tissue responses determine the outcome of chronic arthritis. Joint inflammation and damage are often the dominant clinical presentation. However, in some arthritic diseases, in particular the spondyloarthritides, joint remodeling is a prominent feature, with new cartilage and bone formation leading to ankylosis and contributing to loss of function. A role for bone morphoge...

Equine degenerative arthritis was reported as an entity in 1938 by Kelser and Callender based on a comparison of the pathological changes in humans and horses by the same authors. Equine osteoarthritis (OA; the common name now) was reviewed by Mackay-Smith in 1962, and it received its first clinical attention at AAEP in 1966 with a presentation on pathophysiology of equine degenerative joint di...

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease usually presenting as a chronic progressive symmetrical inflammation of multiple joints. The metacarpo-phalangeal joints are the commonest sites of involvement, the initial lesion being a proliferative synovitis. As the disease progresses the proximal phalanx commonly subluxates volarward and is deviated ulnarward on the metacarpal head (Smith and Kapl...

A functional skeletal system requires the coordinated development of many different tissue types, including cartilage, bones, joints, and tendons. Members of the Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family of secreted signaling molecules have been implicated as endogenous regulators of skeletal development. This is based on their expression during bone and joint formation, their ability to induce e...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Unloading alters the thickness of joint cartilage. It is unknown, however, to what extent unloading leads to a loss of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the cartilage tissue. We hypothesized that muscle forces, in addition to axial loading, are necessary to maintain the joint cartilage GAG content of the knee and the upper and lower ankle. PATIENTS AND METHODS The HEPHAISTOS...

Osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis described as a degenerative joint disease that results from the breakdown of articular cartilage and underlying subchondral bone [1,2]. Cartilage is firm, rubbery, protein substance that serves as a “cushion” between the bones, providing a smooth, gliding surface for joint motion. As the cartilage breaks down, it causes pain, swelling, stiffness and problem...

Cartilage is considered to be a simple tissue that should be easy to engineer because it is avascular and contains just one cell type, the chondrocyte. Despite this apparent simplicity, regenerating cartilage in a form that can function effectively after implantation in the joint has proven difficult. This may be because we have not fully appreciated the importance of different structural regio...

Hip joint instability and impingement are the most common biomechanical risk factors that put the hip joint at risk to develop premature osteoarthritis. Several surgical procedures like periacetabular osteotomy for hip dysplasia or hip arthroscopy or safe surgical hip dislocation for femoroacetabular impingement aim at restoring the hip anatomy. However, the success of joint preserving surgical...