Articular surface integrity assessed by ultrasound is associated with biological characteristics of articular cartilage in early-stage degeneration.

Wen Shi
Takashi Kanamoto
Masaharu Aihara
Shiro Oka
Sanae Kuroda
Tsuyoshi Nakai
Takeo Mazuka
Keisuke Takenaka
Yuji Sato
Masahiro Tsukamoto
Kosuke Ebina
Ken Nakata

Early diagnosis of articular cartilage damage and repeated evaluation of treatment efficacy are essential for osteoarthritis treatment. In this study, we established a simple ultrasound grading system for early degenerative articular cartilage and investigated its relationship with cartilage biological characteristics. The ultrasound grading system were based on surface integrity (S1a: continuous high-echo lines, S1b: discontinuous or weak high-echo lines, S2: surface irregular) and cartilage echogenicity (E1: with > 50%, E2: < 50% hypoechoic area of total cartilage layer) and verified by surface roughness (Ra; μm) and histological staining. Ra was lower in S1 than in S2, and the percentage of hypoechoic and safranin O-stained areas was positively correlated. Then we examined its relationship with histopathological evaluation (OARSI grade), gene expression, and protein production in responded to pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-1ß) stimulation. OARSI grades were different among S grades. The superficial layer of S1 had higher expression of Collagen10, aggrecan, Sox9, and lower expression of Collagen1 and BMP2 than that of S2. S1 responded more pronouncedly to IL-1ß in IL-6, IL-8, and CCL2 production than S2. There was no difference among the E-grades. Taken together, our findings indicate that ultrasound assessment using surface integrity can reflect the biological characteristics of early degenerative articular cartilage.

Scientific reports

12

1

10.1038/s41598-022-16248-6

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16248-6
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35831407
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9279397