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Original research
No detectable remodelling in adult human menisci: an analysis based on the C14 bomb pulse
  1. Christoffer Våben1,
  2. Katja M Heinemeier2,3,
  3. Peter Schjerling2,
  4. Jesper Olsen4,
  5. Michael Mørk Petersen5,
  6. Michael Kjaer2,
  7. Michael R Krogsgaard1
  1. 1 Section for Sportstraumatology M51, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
  2. 2 Institute of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery M, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
  3. 3 Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen Faculty of Health Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark
  4. 4 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Centre, Aarhus Universitet, Aarhus, Denmark
  5. 5 Musculoskeletal Tumor Section, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
  1. Correspondence to Dr Michael R Krogsgaard, Section for Sportstraumatology M51, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen NV, Denmark; Michael.Rindom.Krogsgaard{at}regionh.dk

Abstract

Objectives Bone and other human tissues remodel through life, for example, as a response to increasing load, and this prevents permanent destruction of the tissue. Non-traumatic meniscal rupture is a common musculoskeletal disease, but it is unknown if it is caused by inability of the menisci to remodel. The aim of this study was to determine whether meniscal collagen is remodelling throughout life.

Methods The life-long turnover of the human meniscal collagens was explored by the 14C bomb pulse method. 14C levels were determined in menisci from 18 patients with osteoarthritis and 7 patients with healthy knees.

Results There was a negligible turnover of the meniscal collagen in adults. This low turnover was observed in menisci from patients with knee osteoarthritis and in healthy menisci.

Conclusion This study provides evidence that essentially no remodelling occurs in the adult human meniscal collagen structure and explains the clinical degeneration that is often seen in menisci of middle-aged and elderly persons. It suggests that strengthening of the collagen structure of menisci, as response to physical activity, may occur during childhood, while it is not possible in the adult population.

  • meniscus
  • collagen
  • metabolism
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-101360

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors KMH, MK and MRK planned the study. MRK provided samples from patients with osteoarthritis, and MMP provided samples from patients with healthy menisci. CV and KMH prepared samples for isotope analyses and performed all other analyses. JO performed the isotope analyses. CV, KMH and PS structured the results, PS performed the statistical analyses and all authors participated in interpretation of the results and writing of the manuscript.

    • Funding The study was funded by The Danish Rheumatism Association and The Augustinus Foundation.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Ethics approval The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Capital Region of Denmark (H-4-2012-131), and all persons gave informed written consent to donate their tissue.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data availability statement All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. All data associated with this study are available in the main text or the supplementary materials.