A higher intramuscular fat in vastus medialis is associated with functional disabilities and symptoms in early stage of knee osteoarthritis: a case-control study

Masashi Taniguchi; Yoshihiro Fukumoto; Masahide Yagi; Tetsuya Hirono; Momoko Yamagata; Akihiro Asayama; Shogo Okada; Ryusuke Nakai; Masashi Kobayashi; Noriaki Ichihashi

doi:10.1186/s13075-023-03048-0

A higher intramuscular fat in vastus medialis is associated with functional disabilities and symptoms in early stage of knee osteoarthritis: a case-control study

Arthritis Res Ther. 2023 Apr 14;25(1):61. doi: 10.1186/s13075-023-03048-0.

Authors

Masashi Taniguchi¹, Yoshihiro Fukumoto^{2

3}, Masahide Yagi², Tetsuya Hirono^{2

4

5}, Momoko Yamagata^{2

3}, Akihiro Asayama^{2

6}, Shogo Okada², Ryusuke Nakai⁷, Masashi Kobayashi⁸, Noriaki Ichihashi²

Affiliations

¹ Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53-Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan. taniguchi.masashi.7a@kyoto-u.ac.jp.
² Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53-Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
³ Faculty of Rehabilitation, Kansai Medical University, Hirakata, Japan.
⁴ School of Health and Sport Science, Chukyo University, Aichi, Japan.
⁵ Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Rehabilitation, Japanese Red Cross Nagahama Hospital, Shiga, Japan.
⁷ Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto, Japan.
⁸ Kobayashi Orthopaedic Clinic, Kyoto, Japan.

Abstract

Background: The characteristics of muscle degeneration in individual quadriceps in early knee osteoarthritis (OA) and the association of muscle quantity and quality on knee dysfunction remain unclear. This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of muscle degeneration in individual quadriceps muscles in early knee OA and elucidate the association of muscle volume and intramuscular adipose tissue (intraMAT) with knee dysfunction, including functional disabilities, symptoms, and joint morphology.

Methods: Fifty participants were categorized into early knee OA and healthy control groups. 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using T1-weighted and Dixon methods and 3D SPACE in the thigh muscle and knee joint regions was performed. Quadriceps muscle volume, intraMAT, and whole-organ MRI score (WORMS) were assessed. The Knee Society Score (KSS) was used to evaluate functional disabilities and knee symptoms. Univariate analysis of variance was conducted with covariates to clarify the differences in muscle volume and intraMAT between the two groups. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed using the KSS function and symptom subcategories and WORMS as dependent variables and muscle volume, intraMAT, and the presence of early knee OA as independent variables, such as potential confounders.

Results: The quadriceps intraMAT, especially in the vastus medialis (VM), was significantly higher in patients with early knee OA than in healthy controls. The VM intraMAT, not muscle volume, was significantly associated with KSS function [B = - 3.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], - 5.24 to - 1.71; p < 0.001] and symptom scores [B = - 0.63; 95% CI, - 1.09 to - 0.17; p = 0.008], but not with WORMS.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that higher VM intraMAT is characteristic of quadriceps muscle degeneration in early knee OA and its increase is associated with functional disabilities and symptoms.

Keywords: Early knee osteoarthritis; Functional disabilities; Intermuscular fat; Symptoms; Vastus medialis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue
Case-Control Studies
Humans
Knee Joint / pathology
Osteoarthritis, Knee* / pathology
Quadriceps Muscle / diagnostic imaging