Objective. Alterations of cartilage morphology and mechanical properties oc
cur in osteoarthritis, but it is unclear whether similar changes also take
place physiologically during aging, in the absence of disease. In this in v
ivo study, we tested the hypothesis that thinning of knee joint cartilage o
ccurs with aging and that elderly subjects display a different amount of ca
rtilage deformation than do young subjects.
Methods. We evaluated 30 asymptomatic subjects ages 50-78 years. Morphologi
c parameters for the knee cartilage (mean and maximum thickness, surface ar
ea) were computed from magnetic resonance imaging data. Results were compar
ed with those in 95 young asymptomatic subjects ages 20-30 years. Deformati
on of the patellar cartilage was determined after the subjects performed 30
knee bends.
Results. There was a significant reduction of patellar cartilage thickness
in elderly women (-12%; P < 0.05), but not in elderly men (-6%). Femoral ca
rtilage was significantly thinner in both sexes (-21% in women, -13% in men
; P < 0.01), whereas tibial cartilage thickness displayed only nonsignifica
nt trends (-10% in women, -7% in men). Patellar cartilage deformation was -
2.6% in elderly women and -2.2% in elderly men. These values were significa
ntly lower (P < 0.05) than those in young subjects.
Conclusion. We confirmed the hypothesis that knee cartilage becomes thinner
during aging, in the absence of cartilage disease, but that the amount of
reduction differs between sexes and between compartments of the knee joint.
We show that under in vivo loading conditions, elderly subjects display a
lower level of cartilage deformation than do healthy young subjects.