title: Assessment of interstitial water content of articular cartilage with T1 relaxation.
abstract: The interstitial water content typically increases in the early degeneration of articular cartilage. Previously, T(2) relaxation has been related to water content, yet it is known to be strongly affected by the collagen orientation. Articular cartilage plugs from the bovine patella, femur and tibia (N=20) were mapped for T(1) and T(2) at 9.4 T to test the ability of T(1) relaxation to reflect cartilage water content. As a reference, water and proteoglycan (PG) contents were determined. Significant (P<.01) linear associations were demonstrated between the relaxation rates and tissue water content (R(1): r=-.81, R(2): r=-.60) and PG content (R(1): r=.75). After adjustment for the tissue water content, partial correlation analysis did not show significant associations between the relaxation rates and tissue PG content. After the effect of PGs was removed, significant (P<.05) linear correlation between the relaxation rates and tissue water content (R(1): r=-.48, R(2): r=-.50) was observed. Thus, the spin-lattice relaxation rate is proposed to provide a biomarker for water content in articular cartilage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Kuopio University, 70211 Kuopio, Finland. jatta.kurkijarvi@uku.fi
authors.forename: Jatta E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Berberat
authors.forename: Mikko J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Nissi
authors.forename: Jukka S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jurvelin
authors.forename: Miika T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Nieminen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001834:Body Water / Q000378:metabolism*; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002417:Cattle; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014867:Water