Subchondral Bone Osteocyte Lacunae Morphology in End-Stage Osteoarthritis of the Human Tibial Plateau

Fahimeh Azari; Haniyeh Hemmatian; Anik Banerjee; G Harry van Lenthe

doi:10.1007/s00223-024-01226-z

Subchondral Bone Osteocyte Lacunae Morphology in End-Stage Osteoarthritis of the Human Tibial Plateau

Calcif Tissue Int. 2024 May 16. doi: 10.1007/s00223-024-01226-z. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Fahimeh Azari¹, Haniyeh Hemmatian², Anik Banerjee¹, G Harry van Lenthe³

Affiliations

¹ Biomechanics Section, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
² Department of Medicine, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia.
³ Biomechanics Section, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. harry.vanlenthe@kuleuven.be.

PMID: 38753025
DOI: 10.1007/s00223-024-01226-z

Abstract

Subchondral bone remodeling, mediated by osteocytes within the lacuno-canalicular network, plays a crucial role in osteoarthritis (OA) progression. Following cell death, lacunae preserve integrity, offering insights into bone remodeling mechanisms. Limited and controversial data on osteocyte lacuna morphology in OA result from small sample sizes and two-dimensional (2D) techniques that have been used thus far. This study aimed to quantify three-dimensional (3D) osteocyte lacunar characteristics at well-defined tibial plateau locations, known to be differently affected by OA. Specifically, 11 tibial plateaus were obtained from end-stage knee-OA patients with varus deformity. Each plateau provided one sample from the less affected lateral compartment and two samples from the medial compartment, at minimum and maximum bone volume fraction (BV/TV) locations. High-resolution desktop micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) at 0.7 μm voxel resolution imaged the 33 samples. Lacuna number density (Lc.N/BV) and lacuna volume density (Lc.TV/BV) were significantly lower (p < 0.02) in samples from the medial side with maximum BV/TV compared to lateral side samples. In the medial compartment at maximum local BV/TV, mean lacuna volume (Lc.V), total lacuna volume (Lc.TV), and Lc.TV/BV were significantly (p < 0.001) lower than in the region with minimum BV/TV. Lc.N/BV was also significantly lower (p < 0.02) at the maximum local BV/TV location compared to the region with minimum BV/TV. Our findings suggest that subchondral bone lacunae adapt to the changing loads in end-stage OA.

Keywords: Mechanical axis; Micro-computed tomography; Osteoarthritis; Osteocyte lacuna; Subchondral bone; Tibial plateau.