Abstract
BackgroundThe objective of this study was to investigate the biomechanical and histological effects of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) on the medial tibial plateau.MethodsA total of 12 cadaveric human knee specimens were collected and grouped as follows: the PCL intact group (n = 12), the anterolateral bundle rupture group (n = 6), the postmedial bundle rupture group (n = 6), and the PCL rupture group (n = 12). The strain on the anterior, middle, and posterior parts of the medial tibial plateau with an axial loading force at different flexion angles was measured and analyzed, respectively. Forty-eight rabbits were chosen for animal study: surgery was performed on the one side of each rabbit randomly (experimental group), while the other side was taken as control (control group). Every 12 rabbits were culled at each of the four selected time points to collect the medial tibial plateau for morphological and histological observation.ResultsThe PCL rupture, either partial or complete, may generate an abnormal load on all the parts of the medial tibial plateau with axial loading at all positions. Noticeable time-dependent degenerative histological changes of the medial tibial plateau were observed in the rabbit models of PCL rupture. Compared with the control group, all the PCL rupture groups exhibited a higher expression of the matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) and the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) at all the time points.ConclusionsEither partial or complete PCL rupture may generate an abnormal load on all the parts of the medial tibial plateau with axial loading at all the positions and may cause cartilage degeneration on the medial tibial plateau.
Highlights
The objective of this study was to investigate the biomechanical and histological effects of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) on the medial tibial plateau
Under the 600, 800, and 1000 N loading force, the difference among the anterolateral bundle (ALB) rupture group, the posteromedial bundle (PMB) rupture group, and the PCL rupture group was insignificant on all the parts (P > 0.05)
In accordance with Wang’s results, this study identified a time-dependent characteristic of the medial tibial plateau degeneration along with the time progression after PCL rupture: no obvious change of cartilage was observed in the 4th week after PCL rupture, but a higher expression of matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) and TIMP was detected in the experimental group, suggesting that they are both sensitive markers for cartilage degradation
Summary
The objective of this study was to investigate the biomechanical and histological effects of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) on the medial tibial plateau. The previous studies about PCL injury mainly focus on the post injury changes of knee joint kinematics, the comparison among various PCL reconstruction methods, and the clinical outcomes after surgery [6,7,8,9]. They are mostly concerned about the complete PCL rupture and its effects on the in situ force measurement of other posterior movement that restrict structures and the contact stress of the tibiofemoral joint or patellofemoral joint. OA of the knee is commonly occurred in the medial tibiofemoral
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