Sannamari Lepojrvi1, Marianne Haapea1,
Tatu Kokkonen2, Juha Isolehto3, Ilkka Kiviranta4,5,
Miika T. Nieminen1,6
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology,
Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; 2Department of Radiology,
Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; 3Department of
Biology of Physical Activity, University of Jyvskyl, Jyvskyl, Finland; 4Department
of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki,
Finland; 5Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Jyvskyl
Central Hospital, Jyvskyl, Finland; 6Department of Medical
Technology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Joint
loading is dependent on the individual loading type. The aim of this study
was to investigate the effect of individual, biomechanically determined joint
loading type on biochemical properties of load-bearing articular cartilage in
the knee joint, as measured by T2 relaxation time mapping and delayed
gadolinium enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) in 37 asymptomatic healthy
volunteers. The biochemical composition of cartilage is related to the
characteristic loading type of individual subjects while the cartilage
constituents may vary with physical performance. Cartilage constituents may
be altered with exercise and adapt to individual loading conditions in
daily-life activities or joint-loading exercise.