scholarly journals The Effect of Synovial Fluid Composition, Speed and Load on Frictional Behaviour of Articular Cartilage

Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Furmann ◽  
David Nečas ◽  
David Rebenda ◽  
Pavel Čípek ◽  
Martin Vrbka ◽  
...  

Articular cartilage ensures smooth motion of natural synovial joints operating at very low friction. However, the number of patients suffering from joint diseases, usually associated with cartilage degradation, continuously increases. Therefore, an understanding of cartilage tribological behaviour is of great interest in order to minimize its degradation, preserving the reliable function of the joints. The aim of the present study is to provide a comprehensive comparison of frictional behaviour of articular cartilage, focusing on the effect of synovial fluid composition (i), speed (ii), and load (iii). The experiments were realized using a pin-on-plate tribometer with reciprocating motion. The articular cartilage pin was loaded against smooth glass plate while the tests consisted of loading and unloading phases in order to enable cartilage rehydration. Various model fluids containing albumin, γ-globulin, hyaluronic acid, and phospholipids were prepared in two different concentrations simulating physiologic and osteoarthritic synovial fluid. Two different speeds, 5 mm/s and 10 mm/s were applied, and the tests were carried out under 5 N and 10 N. It was found that protein-based solutions exhibit almost no difference in friction coefficient, independently of the concentration of the constituents. However, the behaviour is considerably changed when adding hyaluronic acid and phospholipids. Especially when interacting with γ-globulin, friction coefficient decreased substantially. In general, an important role of the interaction of fluid constituents was observed. On the other hand, a limited effect of speed was detected for most of the model fluids. Finally, it was shown that elevated load leads to lower friction, which corresponds well with previous observations. Further study should concentrate on specific explored phenomena focusing on the detailed statistical evaluation.

Author(s):  
H Higaki ◽  
T Murakami ◽  
Y Nakanishi ◽  
H Miura ◽  
T Mawatari ◽  
...  

Two kinds of friction tests were conducted to investigate the lubricating effect of the injection of amphiphilies on the osteoarthritic joint. The effects of the addition of Lα-dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (Lα-DPPC) riposomes and γ-globulin in a saline solution of sodium hyaluronate (HA) were evaluated through pendulum friction tests. The frictional characteristics of pig shoulder joints were confirmed to depend on the viscosity of the lubricants only in the physiologically low load condition and in the condition immediately after loading. Detergent (polyoxyethylene p-t-octylphenyl ether) was successfully used to remove adsorbed films from the articular surfaces. The friction coefficient of natural synovial joints was significantly increased in a mode of mixed lubrication with the HA solution of 0.2 g/dl by the treatment of the surface with the detergent. The addition of Lα-DPPC riposomes or y-globulin significantly improved the boundary lubricating ability of the articular surfaces treated with the detergent, depending on the quantity of those additives. It appears that the Lα-DPPC riposomes and γ-globulin can form protective films on the articular surfaces like a biomembrane. Moreover, the reciprocating frictional behaviour in sliding pairs of pig articular cartilages and glass plates was studied in order to elucidate the tribological role of those constituents in the boundary lubricating film on the articular surface. Pig synovial fluid and water solutions of HA were used as lubricants. The synovial fluid had superior lubricating ability compared to the HA solution of equivalent viscosity under a physiologically high load condition. This fact seems to be responsible for the boundary lubricating ability of constituents other than hyaluronic acid. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of Lα-DPPC on the glass plate were kept at a low and stable friction coefficient, depending on the number of film layers. In conditions of mixed films with Lα-DPPC and γ-globulin, the frictional behaviour was improved by increasing the quantity of γ-globulin. A model is proposed in which the effective adsorbed films are composed of proteins, phospholipids and other conjugated constituents on the articular surfaces to be accurate in describing the boundary lubricating mechanism. The mechanism is controlled by hydrophobic groups in those amphiphilies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana C. Fasanello ◽  
Jin Su ◽  
Siyu Deng ◽  
Rose Yin ◽  
Marshall J. Colville ◽  
...  

Abstract Background TNF-α-stimulated gene 6 (TSG-6) protein, a TNF-α-responsive hyaladherin, possesses enzymatic activity that can catalyze covalent crosslinks of the polysaccharide hyaluronic acid (HA) to another protein to form heavy chain-hyaluronic acid (HC-HA) complexes in pathological conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA). Here, we examined HA synthase and inflammatory gene expression; synovial fluid HA, TNF-α, and viscosity; and TSG-6-mediated HC-HA complex formation in an equine OA model. The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate the TNF-α-TSG-6-HC-HA signaling pathway across multiple joint tissues, including synovial membrane, cartilage, and synovial fluid, and (2) determine the impact of OA on synovial fluid composition and biophysical properties. Methods HA and inflammatory cytokine concentrations (TNF-α, IL-1β, CCL2, 3, 5, and 11) were analyzed in synovial fluid from 63 OA and 25 control joints, and HA synthase (HAS1-3), TSG-6, and hyaluronan-degrading enzyme (HYAL2, HEXA) gene expression was measured in synovial membrane and cartilage. HA molecular weight (MW) distributions were determined using agarose gel electrophoresis and solid-state nanopore measurements, and HC-HA complex formation was detected via immunoblotting and immunofluorescence. SEC-MALS was used to evaluate TSG-6-mediated HA crosslinking, and synovial fluid and HA solution viscosities were analyzed using multiple particle-tracking microrheology and microfluidic measurements, respectively. Results TNF-α concentrations were greater in OA synovial fluid, and TSG6 expression was upregulated in OA synovial membrane and cartilage. TSG-6-mediated HC-HA complex formation was greater in OA synovial fluid and tissues than controls, and HC-HA was localized to both synovial membrane and superficial zone chondrocytes in OA joints. SEC-MALS demonstrated macromolecular aggregation of low MW HA in the presence of TSG-6 and inter-α-inhibitor with concurrent increases in viscosity. Conclusions Synovial fluid TNF-α concentrations, synovial membrane and cartilage TSG6 gene expression, and HC-HA complex formation were increased in equine OA. Despite the ability of TSG-6 to induce macromolecular aggregation of low MW HA with resultant increases in the viscosity of low MW HA solutions in vitro, HA concentration was the primary determinant of synovial fluid viscosity rather than HA MW or HC-HA crosslinking. The TNF-α-TSG-6-HC-HA pathway may represent a potential therapeutic target in OA.


2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 1878-1881
Author(s):  
Jakub Kosiński ◽  
Jaromir Jarecki ◽  
Joanna Przepiórka-Kosińska ◽  
Magdalena Ratajczak

Hyaluronic acid (HA) as a compound was discovered in 1934 by Karl Meyer and John Palmer as one of the glycosaminoglycans (GAG) in the vitreous body of the bovine eye. HA occurs naturally in many organs, tissues and body fluids, and especially is presented in large quantities in articular cartilage and synovial fluid. It is a non-protein, non-sulfate glycosaminoglycan which has an important role in the physiological biomechanics of synovial fluid, there is responsible for lubrication and drug-elasticity. In the musculoskeletal system, hyaluronic acid is produced by synoviocytes, fibroblasts and chondrocytes. The concentration of hyaluronic acid decreases not only with age, but also in connection with the progression of certain diseases, for example osteoarthritis (OA). For this reason, it has been used for almost 50 years to try to alleviate and treat symptoms of OA in humans and animals. Numerous studies confirmed the beneficial effect of hyaluronic acid supplementation in OA. Patients which has intraarticular viscosupplementation of HA experience less pain and have a reduced need to take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Intra articular HA administration shows a low risk of local and systemic side effects while maintaining proper administration under aseptic conditions. Nevertheless, local inflammatory reactions occur, but it are most often self-limiting or do not require invasive treatment. The issue of recommending hyaluronic acid in osteoarthritis is still ambiguous and controversial.


2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (06) ◽  
pp. 557-562
Author(s):  
Huei-Ting Huang ◽  
Hsu-Wei Fang

Synovial fluid mediated boundary lubrication is the key mechanism dominating the wear process of the artificial joint materials. The most abundant composition in the synovial fluid is albumin. It has been observed that the increasing human serum albumin (HSA) concentration leads to the increasing friction coefficient under the articulation of ultra-high molecular polyethylene (UHMWPE) and CoCrMo alloy materials. In this study, the friction and adsorption experiments were carried out to investigate the effects from addition of hyaluronic acid (HA) molecules. Our results indicated that the increase in HA concentration level results in the decrease of the frictions under HSA-HA mixed lubrication conditions. Insertion of HA molecules at the interface provide a higher elasticity of the lubricating layer. This "damping" mode results in the slightly reduction of friction. More HA molecules may entrap the HSA molecules and then expel them away from the articulating surfaces. This "expelling" mode leads to a significant decrease of friction. The lubricating mechanism of hyaluronic acid on the albumin-mediated tribological processes between UHMWPE and CoCrMo materials was investigated and proposed in this study.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaowei Wang ◽  
Mengbo Zhu ◽  
Yanjing Guo ◽  
Ruijia Yang ◽  
Yaqiong Chang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The study was performed to evaluate whether intra-articular injection of A2M has better effect than current commonly used Hyaluronic Acid (HA) injection therapy to attenuate cartilage degeneration in a rat anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) osteoarthritis (OA) model.Method: In vivo effects of A2M and HA on cartilage degeneration were evaluated in rat surgery induced ACLT OA models. 100 rats were randomly divided into four groups: (a) Sham surgery + saline (Sham + S), (b) ACLT + A2M, (c) ACLT+HA, or (d) ACLT + saline (ACLT+S). The animals were sacrificed at 12 weeks after surgery. Histological staining was performed to assess cartilage damage. The concentration of MMP-13 and sGAG in synovial fluid lavages was measured using ELISA and spectrophotometric quantitative determination. OA-related gene expression was quantified by qPCR.Result: Indian ink staining showed that articular cartilage surface treated by A2M was relatively intact compared with the animals treated by ACLT with saline or HA injection. Histological staining indicated that early supplemental intra-articular injection of A2M attenuated OA pathogenesis in the rat ACLT model compared with the animals treated with saline and HA. However, supplemental intra-articular injection of HA showed no significant effect on cartilage protection for post traumatic OA compared with saline treatment. Elisa results showed A2M reduced the concentration of MMP-13 in synovial fluid compared with HA treatment group and other groups. RT-qPCR indicated that supplemental intra-articular A2M inhibits catabolism and enhances anabolic metabolism, while there was no significant difference in the expression of OA-related genes between ACLT+HA group and ACLT+S group. Conclusion: In rat model, intra-articular injection of A2M had obvious protective effects on cartilage degeneration compared with HA treatment. Major indexes of joint degeneration decreased, providing strong evidence for its intra-articular inhibitory effect. Meanwhile, we found no significant alleviation of articular cartilage pathogenesis in HA treated group, which suggests that the efficacy of HA is questionable and possibly transient, although it is extensively used to improve syndromes.


Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 767 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Nečas ◽  
Martin Vrbka ◽  
Ivan Křupka ◽  
Martin Hartl

1970 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils W. Rydell ◽  
Judson Butler ◽  
Endre A. Balazs

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. S116-S117
Author(s):  
Y. Kamada ◽  
H. Inoue ◽  
S. Nakagawa ◽  
Y. Fujii ◽  
K. Kaihara ◽  
...  

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weifeng Lin ◽  
Zhang Liu ◽  
Nir Kampf ◽  
Jacob Klein

Hydration lubrication has emerged as a new paradigm for lubrication in aqueous and biological media, accounting especially for the extremely low friction (friction coefficients down to 0.001) of articular cartilage lubrication in joints. Among the ensemble of molecules acting in the joint, phosphatidylcholine (PC) lipids have been proposed as the key molecules forming, in a complex with other molecules including hyaluronic acid (HA), a robust layer on the outer surface of the cartilage. HA, ubiquitous in synovial joints, is not in itself a good boundary lubricant, but binds the PC lipids at the cartilage surface; these, in turn, massively reduce the friction via hydration lubrication at their exposed, highly hydrated phosphocholine headgroups. An important unresolved issue in this scenario is why the free HA molecules in the synovial fluid do not suppress the lubricity by adsorbing simultaneously to the opposing lipid layers, i.e., forming an adhesive, dissipative bridge between them, as they slide past each other during joint articulation. To address this question, we directly examined the friction between two hydrogenated soy PC (HSPC) lipid layers (in the form of liposomes) immersed in HA solution or two palmitoyl–oleoyl PC (POPC) lipid layers across HA–POPC solution using a surface force balance (SFB). The results show, clearly and surprisingly, that HA addition does not affect the outstanding lubrication provided by the PC lipid layers. A possible mechanism indicated by our data that may account for this is that multiple lipid layers form on each cartilage surface, so that the slip plane may move from the midplane between the opposing surfaces, which is bridged by the HA, to an HA-free interface within a multilayer, where hydration lubrication is freely active. Another possibility suggested by our model experiments is that lipids in synovial fluid may complex with HA, thereby inhibiting the HA molecules from adhering to the lipids on the cartilage surfaces.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document