Structure-function relationships in healthy and osteoarthritic human tibial cartilage

The structure-function relationships in human tibial cartilage are not known. We combined fibril-reinforced poroelastic modelling with quantitative microscopy and histology to interpret structure-function relationships of human tibial cartilage. Our findings suggest that the loss of collagen pretension in early osteoarthritis (OA) is modulated by reduced tissue swelling due to the loss of proteoglycans (PG). However, we suggest that the loss of collagen pretension in advanced OA is regulated by 1) collagen disorganization and 2) decreased swelling pressure due to the loss of PGs.