Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hills, B. A.
Right arrow Articles by Thomas, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hills, B. A.
Right arrow Articles by Thomas, K.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

The British Journal of Rheumatology, Vol 37, 532-538, Copyright © 1998 by British Society for Rheumatology

ORIGINAL PAPERS

Joint stiffness and 'articular gelling': inhibition of the fusion of articular surfaces by surfactant

BA Hills and K Thomas
Paediatric Respiratory Research Centre, Mater Children's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

It was proposed some years ago that, in osteoarthritis, one source of joint stiffness arises from 'articular gelling', but, if so, why does this not occur in the normal joint? In a preliminary experiment using agar gels, it is shown how such fusion of gel surfaces can be inhibited by surface-active phospholipid (SAPL)--both synthetic and human--as quantified by the shear stress needed to cause cleavage between samples after prolonged contact. On the other hand, normal bovine articular cartilage (BAC) does not fuse to itself, but can be made to do so if rinsed with a powerful lipid solvent known to remove the outermost layer of adsorbed SAPL along with the hydrophobicity so characteristic of the normal 'waxy' surface it imparts. It is then shown how the inhibition of gel fusion can be restored by treating both bovine and human articular surfaces with exogenous SAPL derived from human AC and with synthetic SAPL. Samples of human articular cartilage excised from osteoarthritic hips and knees during total joint replacement showed a 55% greater tendency to fuse together than normal BAC. This was exacerbated by solvent rinsing and can be attributed to a deficiency in the outermost lining of SAPL previously studied as a load-bearing boundary lubricant capable of reducing friction and wear to the remarkably low levels observed physiologically. Hence, joint stiffness can be attributed, in part, to a deficiency in the lubricating layer of SAPL lining the normal articular surface where it can inhibit articular gelling/gel fusion, possibly imparting other desirable physiological functions. The possibility of clinical replenishment of SAPL in the osteoarthritic joint is discussed.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Rheumatology (Oxford)Home page
D. W. Nitzan, U. Nitzan, P. Dan, and S. Yedgar
The role of hyaluronic acid in protecting surface-active phospholipids from lysis by exogenous phospholipase A2
Rheumatology, March 1, 2001; 40(3): 336 - 340.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Rheumatology (Oxford)Home page
P. Vecchio, R. Thomas, and B. A. Hills
Surfactant treatment for osteoarthritis
Rheumatology, October 1, 1999; 38(10): 1020 - 1021.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.