The prevalence of symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) in the knee is 11–11% compared to 3.4–4.4% in the ankle. In addition to this, 70% of ankle arthritis is post-traumatic while the vast majority of knee arthritis is primary OA. Several reports have previously implicated biochemical differences in extracellular matrix composition between these joint cartilages; however, it is unknown whether there is an inherent difference in their transcriptome and how this might affect their respective functionality under load, inflammatory environment etc. Therefore, we have analysed the transcriptome of ankle and knee cartilage chondrocytes to determine whether this could account for the lower prevalence and altered aetiology of ankle OA. Human full-depth articular cartilage was taken from the talar domes (n=5) and the femoral condyles (n=5) following surgical amputation. RNA was extracted and next generation sequencing (NGS) performed using the NextSeq®500 system. Statistical analysis was performed to identify differentially regulated genes (p adj < 0.05). Data was analysed using Integrated Pathway Analysis software and genes of interest validated by quantitative PCR.Introduction
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Osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT) are a common cause of disability and chronic ankle pain. Many operative treatment strategies have been introduced; however, they have their own disadvantages. Recently lesion repair using autologous cartilage chip has emerged therefore we investigated the efficacy of particulated autologous cartilage transplantation (PACT) in OLT. We retrospectively analyzed 32 consecutive symptomatic patients with OLT who underwent PACT with minimum one-year follow-up. Standard preoperative radiography and MRI were performed for all patients. Follow-up second-look arthroscopy or MRI was performed with patient consent approximately one-year postoperatively. Magnetic resonance Observation of Cartilage Repair Tissue (MOCART) score and International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grades were used to evaluate the quality of the regenerated cartilage. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the pain visual analogue scale (VAS), Foot Function Index (FFI), and Foot Ankle Outcome Scale (FAOS).Aims
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