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In-Vivo Imaging of Cartilage Degeneration with Micro-CT

In-vivo evaluation of cartilage degeneration in small animals would be extremely useful for studying the aetiology and treatment of osteoarthritis. Currently, delayed gadolinium enhanced MRI of Cartilage (dGEMRIC) has shown to provide proteoglycan distribution by the diffusion of the contrast agent GdDPTPA in the cartilage, specifically at locations where loss of proteoglycans occurs [1]. A similar approach has been proposed for another ionic contrast agent (Hexabrix, Mallinckrodt) that could be used in combination with μCT [2]. μCT is nowadays widely used in osteoarthritis small animal research for studying changes in bone architecture and bone density [3]. It would be of great benefit to combine both bone and cartilage μCT imaging in one longitudinal setting. This study investigated the use of the contrast agent Hexabrix for μCT imaging of cartilage degeneration in small animals. Specifically we examined the spatial and quantitative sensitivity of delayed contrast enhanced μCT for the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content in articular cartilage in which we found a clear negative linear correlation between contrast distribution and GAG distribution in the cartilage. Furthermore, we evaluated the use of Hexabrix enhanced μCTarthrography for in-vivo imaging of cartilage degeneration in a rat osteoarthritic model, in which cartilage degeneration and cartilage GAG content could be 3Dquantitatively imaged in-vivo.