Hindlimb unloading alters ligament healing
1 Orthopedic Research Laboratories, Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53792-3228; 2 Connective Tissue Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texa...
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Published in | Journal of applied physiology (1985) Vol. 94; no. 1; pp. 314 - 324 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Legacy CDMS
Am Physiological Soc
01.01.2003
American Physiological Society |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | 1 Orthopedic Research Laboratories, Department of
Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and Department of Biomedical
Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53792-3228;
2 Connective Tissue Physiology Laboratory, Department of
Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204;
and 3 Life Sciences Research Division, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration-Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, California 94035
We investigated
the hypothesis that hindlimb unloading inhibits healing in fibrous
connective tissue such as ligament. Male rats were assigned to 3- and
7-wk treatment groups with three subgroups each: sham control,
ambulatory healing, and hindlimb-suspended healing. Ambulatory and
suspended animals underwent surgical rupture of their medial collateral
ligaments, whereas sham surgeries were performed on control animals.
After 3 or 7 wk, mechanical and/or morphological properties were
measured in ligament, muscle, and bone. During mechanical testing, most
suspended ligaments failed in the scar region, indicating the greatest
impairment was to ligament and not to bone-ligament insertion. Ligament
testing revealed significant reductions in maximum force, ultimate
stress, elastic modulus, and low-load properties in suspended animals. In addition, femoral mineral density, femoral strength, gastrocnemius mass, and tibialis anterior mass were significantly reduced. Microscopy revealed abnormal scar formation and cell distribution in suspended ligaments with extracellular matrix discontinuities and voids between
misaligned, but well-formed, collagen fiber bundles. Hence, stress
levels from ambulation appear unnecessary for formation of fiber
bundles yet required for collagen to form structurally competent
continuous fibers. Results support our hypothesis that hindlimb
unloading impairs healing of fibrous connective tissue. In addition,
this study provides compelling morphological evidence explaining the
altered structure-function relationship in load-deprived healing
connective tissue.
hindlimb suspension; biomechanics; disuse; collagen; bone; muscle |
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Bibliography: | CDMS Legacy CDMS ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 8750-7587 1522-1601 |
DOI: | 10.1152/japplphysiol.00340.2002 |