Biomechanics Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Biomechanics, including details on mechanics of living organisms, movement, locomotion, prosthetic limbs.

Regional differences in prostaglandin E2 and nitric oxide production in the knee meniscus in response to dynamic compression.

Hennerbichler A, Fermor B, Hennerbichler D, Weinberg JB, Guilak F

Department of Surgery, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3093, 375 Medical Sciences Research Building, Durham, NC 27710, USA.

Injury or loss of the knee meniscus is associated with altered joint stresses that lead to progressive joint degeneration. The goal of this study was to determine if dynamic mechanical compression influences the production of inflammatory mediators by meniscal cells. Dynamic compression increased prostaglandin E2 (PGE(2)) and nitric oxide (NO) production over a range of stress magnitudes (0.0125-0.5 MPa) in a manner that depended on stress magnitude and zone of tissue origin. Inner zone explants showed greater increases in PGE(2) and NO production as compared to outer zone explants. Meniscal tissue expressed NOS2 and NOS3 protein, but not NOS1. Mechanically induced NO production was blocked by NOS inhibitors, and the non-selective NOS inhibitor L-NMMA augmented PGE(2) production in the outer zone only. These findings suggest that the meniscus may serve as an intra-articular source of pro-inflammatory mediators, and that alterations in the magnitude or distribution of joint loading could significantly influence the production of these mediators in vivo.

Published 4 June 2007 in Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 358(4): 1047-53.
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