Effects of radial shock waves on membrane permeability and viability of chondrocytes and structure of articular cartilage in equine cartilage explants.

This study investigates the effects of radial shock waves on the structure, membrane permeability and viability of chondrocytes (cartilage cells) and articular cartilage in horse joints. The findings reveal that while such treatment doesn’t cause structural damage to the cartilage, it can impact cell viability and membrane permeability, indicating a need for caution and further study when such procedures are used.

Research Methods

• The researchers used cartilage explants, which are pieces of tissue extracted for study, from the metacarpal and metatarsal bones of six horses.
• Left in culture for 48 hours, these samples were subjected to different quantities of radial shock waves using either convex or concave handpiece.
• The researchers created treatment groups differed by the number of shock wave impulses (500, 2000, and 4000) and the type of handpiece used (group A used a convex piece and group B used a concave piece).
• The effects on the explants’ structure were evaluated with environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM).
• Membrane permeability, or the ability for substances to pass in and out of the cell membrane, was measured by the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme, a substance given off when cells are damaged.
• The viability of chondrocytes was evaluated using vital cell staining, a technique for determining the number of living versus dead cells in a sample.
• The researchers performed an ANOVA (analysis of variance) to compare LDH activity and nonviable cell percentages among the groups.

Results

• The study found that cell membrane permeability increased significantly with the application of 2,000 and 4,000 impulses in both groups, indicating damage to the cells.
• Furthermore, cell viability decreased notably with an application of 4,000 impulses in group A’s explants. This finding means that the shock wave treatment may negatively impact the survival of chondrocytes.
• However, through ESEM evaluation, no discernible damage to the overall structure of the cartilage explants was found in any treatment group, suggesting that radial shock waves might not harm the tissue structure.

Conclusions

• While radial shock waves do not seem to cause structural damage to articular cartilage, they do impact chondrocyte viability and membrane permeability.
• As extremely high periarticular pulse doses can affect the viability of chondrocytes and their membrane permeability, caution should be exercised until more studies can determine the long-term impact and validate appropriate treatments.