Macromolecule and water magnetization exchange modeling in articular cartilage

Magnetization exchange effects between the matrix macromolecules (e. g., collagen and proteoglycan) and water were examined in normal, deuterated, and proteoglycan-depleted articular cartilage. Relaxation results (T(2), T(1rho), and T(1)) suggested that a four-site exchange scheme provided an accurate model for articular cartilage relaxation and interspin group coupling details. Magnetization exchange within the collagen-bulk-water, proteoglycan-collagen, and collagen fibrillar water-collagen cartilage subsystems were quantified. Although collagen-bulk-water was the largest of the cartilage coupling subsystems ( approximately 90% signal) and is exploited in MRI, the rates of magnetization transfer (MT) within the latter subsystems were appreciably larger. Magnetization exchange rates for proteoglycan-collagen and collagen fibrillar water-collagen were 120 s(-1) and 4.4 s(-1), respectively. The observation of these latter two exchange subsystems suggested potential clinical MRI-MT applications in detecting molecular abnormalities associated with osteoarthritis.