Cartilage Mechanical Response under Dynamic Compression at Physiological Stress Levels Following Collagenase Digestion

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that enzymatic degradation by collagenase significantly reduces dynamic moduli and increases compressive strains of bovine articular cartilage under physiological compressive stress levels and loading frequencies. Twenty-seven distal femoral cartilage plugs (3 mm diameter) were loaded in a custom apparatus under load control, with a load up to 40 N and loading frequencies of 0.1, 1, 10, and 40 Hz, before and after incubation in physiological buffered saline containing various concentrations of collagenase (0, 2, and 10 U/mL). Collagenase digestion reduced the equilibrium Young’s modulus by 49% with 2 U/mL and 61% with 10 U/mL, while the decrease in dynamic modulus at 40 Hz was in the range of 13–20% with 2 U/mL and 24–33% with 10 U/mL, relative to respective controls. The amplitudes of dynamic compressive strains increased from 22 ± 6% to 26 ± 8% at 0.1 Hz and 9.6 ± 3.3% to 13.5 ± 3.2% at 40 Hz, with 10 U/mL collagenase. This experimental study serves to confirm that collagen contributes significantly to the dynamic compressive properties of cartilage, by demonstrating that collagenase digestion impairs these properties, under stress amplitudes and frequencies which are representative of physiological loading conditions.