Histological study on mechanoreceptors in the cruciate ligament in the patients with osteoarthritis of the knee
DANG Bao-ping
MAO Li-biao
DIWU Wei-long
ZHANG Qi
YAN Jin-hong
YANG Min
HAN Yi-sheng
Abstract：Objective To investigate the relationship between mechanoreceptors in the cruciate ligament and the age, course and severity of disease in the patients with knee osteoarthritis ( OA ). Methods The patients with knee OA who were treated with total knee arthroplasty from October 2015 to May 2016 were divided into 4 groups:group A ( ≤50 years ), group B ( 51 - 60 years ), group C ( 61 - 70 years ) and group D ( > 70 years ) according to their ages. And meanwhile, they were divided into 4 groups: group a ( ≤10 years ), group b ( 11 - 20 years ), group c ( 20 - 30 years ) and group d ( > 30 years ) according to the course of disease. According to the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index ( WOMAC ), which was meant to assess the severity of OA, all the patients were divided into 3 groups: group I ( score ≤80 ), group II ( 81 - 120 ) and group III ( score > 120 ). The anterior cruciate ligament ( ACL ) and posterior cruciate ligament ( PCL ) were completely taken out during the total knee arthroplasty, both of which were divided into 3 parts: the tibial end, the intermediate part and the femoral end. Six pieces of frozen sections were cut from each part, 3 pieces of which were randomly selected for hematoxylin-eosin ( HE ) staining, and the other 3 pieces for immunohistochemical staining. The light microscope was used to observe the type and amount of mechanoreceptors. Results A total of 2081 mechanoreceptors were observed. There were 1072 mechanoreceptors in the tibial end, 126 in the intermediate part and 883 in the femoral end of the ACL and PCL.The numbers of mechanoreceptors were ( 32.22 ± 2.72 ) in group A, ( 23.30 ± 1.81 ) in group B, ( 16.20 ± 1.15 ) in group C and ( 12.47 ± 1.39 ) in group D, and there were statistically significant differences between each 2 groups of A, B, C and D ( P < 0.05 ). The numbers of mechanoreceptors were ( 22.99 ± 1.28 ) in group a, ( 21.98 ± 1.32 ) in group b, ( 11.80 ± 1.80 ) in group c and ( 8.63 ± 2.38 ) in group d. There were statistically significant differences between group a and group b / c / d ( P < 0.05 ), and there were statistically significant differences between group b and group c / d ( P < 0.05 ). There were no statistically significant differences between group c and group d ( P > 0.05 ). The numbers of mechanoreceptors were ( 27.17 ± 11.21 ) in group I, ( 18.80 ± 7.13 ) in group II, and ( 14.21 ± 5.69 ) in group III, and there were statistically significant differences between each 2 groups of I, II and III ( P < 0.05 ). Based on the results from the multi-factor analysis of variance in the multiple factorial design, there were statistically significant differences in the main effects of the ages, courses of disease and WOMAC scores ( P < 0.05 ), but there was no interaction among these factors ( P > 0.05 ). Conclusions The mechanoreceptors are mainly concentrated at the attachment points of the tibia and femur. The number of the mechanoreceptors is decreased with the increase of the age of OA patients, the prolongation of the course of OA and the aggravation of OA.
Keywords：OsteoarthritiskneeMechanoreceptorsAnterior cruciate ligamentPosterior cruciate ligamentKnee joint
Publication Date：2016-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 909-914 )