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Knee muscle strength correlates with joint cartilage T2 relaxation time in young participants with risk factors for osteoarthritis

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to correlate T2 relaxation time (T2RT), measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with quadriceps and hamstring strength in young participants with risk factors for knee osteoarthritis (OA). A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with participants between 20 and 40 years of age, without diagnosis of knee OA. Their T2 relaxation time was measured through MRI, and their muscle strength (MS) was measured with an isokinetic dynamometer. Seventy-one participants were recruited, with an average age of 28.3 ± 5.5 years; 39 (55 %) were females. Negative correlations were found between T2RT and quadriceps peak torque (QPT) in males in the femur r = −0.46 (p = 0.01), tibia r = −0.49 (p = 0.02), and patella r = −0.44 (p = 0.01). In women, correlations were found among the femur r = −0.43 (p = 0.01), tibia r = −0.61 (p = 0.01), and patella r = −0.32 (p = 0.05) and among hamstring peak torque (HPT), in the femur r = −0.46 (p = 0.01), hamstring total work (HTW) r = −0.42 (p = 0.03), and tibia r = −0.33 (p = 0.04). Linear regression models showed good capacity to predict T2RT through QPT in both genders. The present study shows that early changes in femoral, tibial, and patellar cartilage are significantly correlated with MS, mainly QPT, and that these early changes might be explained by MS, which could play an important role in pre-clinical phases of the disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Osteoarticular Rehabilitation, National Institute of Rehabilitation (INR), Av. México-Xochimilco 289, Col. Arenal de Guadalupe, Deleg. Tlalpan, 14389, México, D.F., Mexico

    Salvador Israel Macías-Hernández, Juan Daniel Morones-Alba & María de los Angeles Soria-Bastida

  2. Department of Research/Genetics, INR, Mexico City, Mexico

    Antonio Miranda-Duarte

  3. Department of Magnetic Resonance, INR, Mexico City, Mexico

    Isabel Ramírez-Mora & Socorro Cortés-González

  4. Department of Orthopedic Rehabilitation, INR, Mexico City, Mexico

    Andrea Olascoaga-Gómez, Roberto Coronado-Zarco, Tania Inés Nava-Bringas & Eva Cruz-Medina

Authors
  1. Salvador Israel Macías-Hernández
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  2. Antonio Miranda-Duarte
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  3. Isabel Ramírez-Mora
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  4. Socorro Cortés-González
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  5. Juan Daniel Morones-Alba
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  6. Andrea Olascoaga-Gómez
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  7. Roberto Coronado-Zarco
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  8. María de los Angeles Soria-Bastida
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  9. Tania Inés Nava-Bringas
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  10. Eva Cruz-Medina
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Correspondence to Salvador Israel Macías-Hernández.

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All of the authors declared not having any conflict of interest or external support or founding from any public or private institution. No competing financial interests exist. All resources used in this project were provided by the National Institute of Rehabilitation, one of the Public National Institutes of Health of the Mexican Federal Government.

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Macías-Hernández, S.I., Miranda-Duarte, A., Ramírez-Mora, I. et al. Knee muscle strength correlates with joint cartilage T2 relaxation time in young participants with risk factors for osteoarthritis. Clin Rheumatol 35, 2087–2092 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-016-3333-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-016-3333-7

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