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Friction 2023, 11(9): 1724-1740 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0701-y
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 05 May 2023

Tribology of enzymatically degraded cartilage mimicking early osteoarthritis

Show Author's Information Ke REN1,  Miguel Alejandro REINA MAHECHA1,  Maike HÜBNER1,  Zhiwei CUI2,  Hans J. KAPER1,  Hugo C. VAN DER VEEN3,  Prashant K. SHARMA1( )
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen 9713AV, the Netherlands
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven 5600MB, the Netherlands
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen 9700RB, the Netherlands
Keywords:
boundary lubrication, lubrication, cartilage, osteoarthritis (OA)
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REN K, REINA MAHECHA MA, HÜBNER M, et al. Tribology of enzymatically degraded cartilage mimicking early osteoarthritis. Friction, 2023, 11(9): 1724-1740. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0701-y
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Healthy cartilage is a water-filled super lubricious tissue. Collagen type II provides it structural stability, and proteoglycans absorb water to keep the cartilage in a swollen condition, providing it the ability to creep and provide weeping lubrication. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative and debilitating disorder of diarthrodial joints, where articular cartilage damage originates from enzymatic degradation and mechanical damage (wear). The objective of this research is to observe the level of cartilage damage present in knee arthroplasty patients and to understand the friction and creep behavior of enzymatically degraded bovine cartilage in vitro. Lateral (Lat) and medial (Med) condylar cartilages from OA patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty showed signs of enzymatic degradation and mechanical damage. Bovine cartilages were exposed to collagenase III and chondroitinase ABC to degrade collagen and proteoglycans, respectively. The loss of proteoglycans or collagen network and morphological changes were observed through histology and the atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. A significant effect on creep due to enzymatic treatment was not observed. But the enzymatic treatment was found to significantly decrease the coefficient of friction (COF) at 4 N, while higher COF was shown from chondroitinase ABC degraded cartilage at 40 N. Collagenase III treatment leads to the release of intact proteoglycans at the sliding interface, while chondroitinase ABC treatment leads to the loss of chondroitin sulfate (CS) from the proteoglycans. Chondroitinase ABC-digested bovine cartilage mimicked patient samples the best because of the similar distributions of proteoglycans, collagen network, and friction behavior.


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About this article

Tribology of enzymatically degraded cartilage mimicking early osteoarthritis

Show Author's information Ke REN1, Miguel Alejandro REINA MAHECHA1, Maike HÜBNER1, Zhiwei CUI2, Hans J. KAPER1, Hugo C. VAN DER VEEN3, Prashant K. SHARMA1( )
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen 9713AV, the Netherlands
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven 5600MB, the Netherlands
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen 9700RB, the Netherlands

Abstract

Healthy cartilage is a water-filled super lubricious tissue. Collagen type II provides it structural stability, and proteoglycans absorb water to keep the cartilage in a swollen condition, providing it the ability to creep and provide weeping lubrication. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative and debilitating disorder of diarthrodial joints, where articular cartilage damage originates from enzymatic degradation and mechanical damage (wear). The objective of this research is to observe the level of cartilage damage present in knee arthroplasty patients and to understand the friction and creep behavior of enzymatically degraded bovine cartilage in vitro. Lateral (Lat) and medial (Med) condylar cartilages from OA patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty showed signs of enzymatic degradation and mechanical damage. Bovine cartilages were exposed to collagenase III and chondroitinase ABC to degrade collagen and proteoglycans, respectively. The loss of proteoglycans or collagen network and morphological changes were observed through histology and the atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. A significant effect on creep due to enzymatic treatment was not observed. But the enzymatic treatment was found to significantly decrease the coefficient of friction (COF) at 4 N, while higher COF was shown from chondroitinase ABC degraded cartilage at 40 N. Collagenase III treatment leads to the release of intact proteoglycans at the sliding interface, while chondroitinase ABC treatment leads to the loss of chondroitin sulfate (CS) from the proteoglycans. Chondroitinase ABC-digested bovine cartilage mimicked patient samples the best because of the similar distributions of proteoglycans, collagen network, and friction behavior.

Keywords: boundary lubrication, lubrication, cartilage, osteoarthritis (OA)

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Publication history

Received: 10 June 2022
Revised: 26 July 2022
Accepted: 27 September 2022
Published: 05 May 2023
Issue date: September 2023

Copyright

© The author(s) 2022.

Acknowledgements

The tribometer (UMT-3, Bruker, USA) setup was purchased thanks to the Grant No. 91112026 from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZON-MW). Figure 8 is created with biorender.com. We also would like to thank China Scholarship Council for a four-year scholarship to Ph.D. candidate Ke REN (Grant No. CSC201806400039).

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