Biotribological Testing and Analysis of Articular Cartilage Sliding against Metal for Implants

Summary

This protocol describes the preparation, biotribological testing, and analysis of osteochondral cylinders sliding against metal implant material. Outcome measures included in this protocol are metabolic activity, gene expression and histology.

Abstract

Osteochondral defects in middle-aged patients might be treated with focal metallic implants. First developed for defects in the knee joint, implants are now available for the shoulder, hip, ankle and the first metatarsalphalangeal joint. While providing pain reduction and clinical improvement, progressive degenerative changes of the opposing cartilage are observed in many patients. The mechanisms leading to this damage are not fully understood. This protocol describes a tribological experiment to simulate a metal-on-cartilage pairing and comprehensive analysis of the articular cartilage. Metal implant material is tested against bovine osteochondral cylinders as a model for human articular cartilage. By applying different loads and sliding speeds, physiological loading conditions can be imitated. To provide a comprehensive analysis of the effects on the articular cartilage, histology, metabolic activity and gene expression analysis are described in this protocol. The main advantage of tribological testing is that loading parameters can be adjusted freely to simulate in vivo conditions. Furthermore, different testing solutions might be used to investigate the influence of lubrication or pro-inflammatory agents. By using gene expression analysis for cartilage-specific genes and catabolic genes, early changes in the metabolism of articular chondrocytes in response to mechanical loading might be detected.

Introduction

The treatment of osteochondral defects is demanding and requires surgery in many cases. For focal osteochondral lesions in middle-aged patients, focal metallic implants are a viable option, especially after the failure of primary treatment, like bone marrow stimulation (BMS) or autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI)¹. Partial surface replacements can be considered salvage procedures that can reduce pain and improve the range of motion². These implants are typically composed of a CoCrMo alloy and are available in different sizes and offset configurations to match the normal anatomy³. While initi....

Protocol

1. Preparation of metal cylinders

1. Analyze cylindrical cobalt-chromium-molybdenum (CoCrMo) rods fulfilling the standard specifications for surgical implants for their chemical composition using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy per manufacturer’s protocol to confirm provided values.
   NOTE: The elemental composition of the CoCrMo alloy used for this experiment is 65% Co, 28% Cr, 5% Mo and 2% others.
2. Wet grind the samples with silicon carbide grinding paper starting with a grain size of 500. Use grinding paper in increasing order up to a grain size of 4000.
3. Polish the cylinder with 3 &....

Results

The contact area and contact pressure must be confirmed using a pressure measurement film (Figure 1). Physiological loading condition can be confirmed by comparing with reference imprints for defined contact pressures. During testing, the coefficient of friction is monitored constantly. With a migrating contact area, a low friction coefficient can be maintained for at least 1 h (Figure 2). Using Safranin O staining the extracellular matrix composition and struct.......

Discussion

Focal metallic implants represent a salvage procedure for osteochondral defects, especially in middle-aged patients and after failed primary treatment. Although clinical studies demonstrated promising short-term results, one observed complication is damage to the opposing, native cartilage¹⁰. Cadaver and biomechanical studies show clear evidence that proper implantation with flat or slightly recessed positioning maintains natural contact pressures¹⁹. Tribological experiment.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Amphotericin B	Sigma?Aldrich Chemie GmbH	A-2942-100ML
buffered formaldehyde solution 4%	VWR	97131000
Cell Proliferation Kit II (XTT)	Roche Diagnostics	11465015001	XTT-based ex vivo toxicology assay
CoCrMo raw material	Acnis International		CoCrMo rods 6mm in diameter
CryoStar NX70 Cryostat	Thermo Fischer Scientific		cryosectioning device
dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)	Sidma-Aldrich Chemie	D 2438-10ML
Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium	Sigma?Aldrich Chemie GmbH		medium
fetal bovine serum	Gibco
Hyaluronic acid	Anika Therapeutics Inc.		component of lubricating solution
iCycler	BioRad		thermal cycler
Leica microscope DM?1000	Leica		microscope for histology
LightCycler 480 Sealing Foil	Roche Diagnostics
LightCycler 96	Roche Diagnostics		thermal cycler for PCR
MagNA Lyser Green Beads	Roche Diagnostics	3358941001
Osteochondral Autograft Transfer System (OATS)	Arthrex Inc.		cutting tube for harvesting osteochondral cylinders
osteosoft	Merck	1017279010	decalcifier-solution
Penicillin /Streptomycin	Sigma?Aldrich Chemie GmbH	P4333-100ML
phosphate?buffered saline	Sigma?Aldrich Chemie GmbH		PBS
Prescale Low Pressure	Fujifilm		pressure indicating film
RNeasy Fibrous Tissue Kit	QIAGEN	74404
Synergy 2	BioTek Instruments		plate reader
Tetra?Falex MUST	Falex Tribology		Tribometer
Tissue? Tek O.C.T.	SAKURA	4583	embedding formulation
Transcriptor First Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit	Roche Diagnostics	40897030001
β-mercaptoethanol	Sidma-Aldrich Chemie	M3148