A series of quantitative UTE techniques have been developed to assess articular cartilage. The early stage of osteoarthritis is characterized by proteoglycan (PG) loss in cartilage. This study aimed to determine if quantitative UTE-based biomarkers are sensitive to PG loss induced by chondroitinase ABC in cadaveric human cartilage. Pure cartilage wafers were exposed to sequential enzymatic digestion. MR imaging was performed before and after sequential digestion. PG loss was observed after digestion, with a corresponding increase in UTE adiabatic T1ρ values as compared to controls.
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