Time-dependent changes in the response of cartilage to static compression suggest interstitial pH is not the only...

The goal of the present study was to reexamine the role of interstitial pH in regulating the biosynthetic rate in cartilage tissue by addressing two research questions: (a) Do small, short-term changes in interstitial pH, induced independently by two different mechanisms (namely, by controlling the pH of the medium or by mechanical compression), result in biosynthetic rates commensurate with those expected from the "natural" relationship between interstitial pH and biosynthesis? and (b) Are the effects of changes in the pH of the medium or in compression the same for short-term (14-hour) and long-term (60-hour) exposures? Biosynthetic rates were estimated from incorporation of sulfate and proline into explants of bovine epiphyseal cartilage during the final 14 hours of culture. These rates decreased with decreasing pH of the medium, with increasing compression, and with decreasing native glycosaminoglycan content; or, expressed in terms of interstitial pH, acidification induced by compression or by lowering the pH of the medium resulted in a decreased biosynthetic rate, whereas interstitial acidification effected by increasing glycosaminoglycan content enhanced it. When the time for which tissue was exposed to changes in the pH of the medium was increased from 14 to 60 hours, the relationship between the biosynthetic rate and the pH remained constant whereas the relationship between the biosynthetic rate and compression was reversed. These data suggest that the transduction mechanisms underlying the response to pH of the medium and compression differ and that some adaptation or stimulation by modest levels of compression can occur with longer exposures. Interstitial pH is not the sole determinant of biosynthesis, and it cannot really account for the long-term response of cartilage tissue to static compression.