Connective tissue response to immobility

TLDR

The biomechanical changes in rabbit knee fracture were measured after 9 weeks of immobilization and correlated with the biochemical composition of periarticular connective knee tissue. Loss of total hexosamine and hyaluronic acid levels correlate with increased joint stiffness and higher energy required for flexion and extension, suggesting a biochemical basis for contracture formation.

Abstract

Abstract The biomechanical changes in rabbit knee confracture were measured after 9 weeks of immobilization. These results were correlated with the biochemical composition of periarticular connective knee tissue of the same knees. The loss of total hexosamine correlates significantly with joint stiffness on an animal‐to‐animal basis. Total hexosamine also correlates with the energy required cyclicly to flex and to extend the experimental joints. Of the individual glycosaminoglycan fractions, only hyaluronic acid showed significant correlation with the biomechanical data. The possible mechanism of contracture formation was postulated based on these results.