Nutrition of the anterior cruciate ligament. Effects of continuous passive motion

Journal Article · Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1985 · Am. J. Sports Med.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/036354658501300609· OSTI ID:5687267

Skyhar, M J; Danzig, L A; Hargens, A R; Akeson, W H

Twelve freshly killed mature male rabbits were used to study the effects of continuous passive motion (CPM) on regional and overall nonvascular nutritional pathways of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). One hundred fifty microcuries of /sup 35/S-sulfate was injected intraarticularly into each knee joint. The right knee underwent CPM for 1 hour, while the left knee remained immobilized. Both knee joints were then isolated and immediately frozen. The ACLs were removed while still mostly frozen, and sectioned into anterior, middle, and posterior thirds for the six rabbits in Group 1, and proximal, middle, and distal thirds for the six rabbits in Group 2. In addition, quadriceps tendon samples were harvested from each limb of three rabbits. After appropriate processing, all samples were counted in a scintillation counter, and counts per minute per milligram of tissue were calculated. There was significantly higher uptake in rest extremity ACLs compared to CPM extremity ACLs (P = 0.0001). No significant difference was demonstrated in regional uptake comparing respective thirds of the ACL in either Group 1 or Group 2. Quadriceps tendon uptake trended higher in the limbs exposed to CPM compared to those maintained at rest (P = 0.14). The ACL uses diffusion as a primary nutrient pathway. CPM does not increase nutrient uptake by the ACL in this avascular model, but CPM may facilitate transport of metabolites out of the joint. No regional differences in uptake within the ACL occurred in either group.

• OSTI ID: 5687267
• Journal Information: Am. J. Sports Med.; (United States), Vol. 6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
LIGAMENTS
NUTRITION
MOTION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
SULFATES
UPTAKE
BIOLOGICAL MODELS
BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS
DIFFUSION
IN VITRO
RABBITS
SCINTILLATION COUNTING
SULFUR 35
ANIMAL TISSUES
ANIMALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
CONNECTIVE TISSUE
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MAMMALS
NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOISOTOPES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR ISOTOPES
TISSUES
VERTEBRATES
550901* - Pathology- Tracer Techniques