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Updated: Aug 14, 2026
An Ex Vivo Tissue Culture Model of Cartilage Remodeling in Bovine Knee Explants
Published on: November 3, 2019
New potential markers for cartilage degradation of the knee joint
Bernhard Schmidt-Rohlfing1, Karsten Gavenis, Martin Kippels
1Department of Orthopaedics, University Hospital, Pauwelsstrasse 30, DE-52074 Aachen, Germany. bernhard.schmidt@post.rwth-aachen.de
Objective:
To determine the correlation of biochemical markers with the degree of cartilage degradation.
Methods:
In a cross-sectional study, synovial fluid samples were obtained from 65 patients with cartilage lesions of the knee joint. The measured biochemical markers included MMP-1, MMP-3, and MMP-13, the tissue inhibitor of MMPs (TIMP-1), COMP, YKL-40, and tenascin. The marker levels were compared with the Outerbridge and the Noyes classification.
Results:
For the majority of markers, the correlation coefficient was below r = 0.3. The highest correlation coefficients were obtained from tenascin (r = 0.66 and 0.67) and MMP-13 (r = 0.44 and 0.41).
Conclusion:
The overall results indicate that the majority of the tested markers is unspecific with regard to the different stages of the two classifications. However, tenascin and MMP-13 could be of clinical importance to indicate advanced stages. Yet the values of these markers in longitudinal studies are not known.
