Atlas of Normal Articular Cartilage: Structural and Functional Comparison Across Species

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease and the most common form of arthritis in older populations. Articular cartilage (AC) is one of the predominant tissues affected in OA. This tissue is crucial in joint function and essential for the maintenance of joint mobility and stability. The development of novel treatments for OA typically begins with pre-clinical studies involving any one of a number of species; therefore, it is important to select species with similar cartilage structure-function properties to humans. Most studies that have characterized AC properties typically include few species or use different test techniques to obtain the properties. In this study, a universal test method was utilized across eight different species to characterize AC properties, thereby potentially eliminating variability in results. Testing involved biomechanical testing to evaluate functional characteristics of cartilage and histology to assess structure across species. The results show that AC properties vary independently across species; however, several patterns observed across the species suggest inter-species similarities. Histological analysis further confirmed the similarities and differences in AC morphology and structure across the species. Characterizing these structure-function relationships in AC across species is critical to understanding how different pre-clinical species compare to human cartilage. Ultimately, this study provides an atlas of reference data for researchers to use when determining which pre-clinical species is most appropriate for their studies.

Keywords

Osteoarthritis, Articular cartilage, Biomechanical properties.