Plyometric training increases thickness and volume of knee articular cartilage in mice.

ABSTRACT: Degeneration and thinning of articular cartilage lead to osteoarthritis and may result from reduced joint loading during e.g. bed rest or as a result of microgravity during space flight. Anabolic physical exercises for cartilage are not well studied to date. We built an experimental apparatus for plyometric training with mice to test potential benefits of jumping for articular cartilage. The exercise group (JUMP) performed jump training for 9 weeks and was compared with sedentary mice (control, CON) and hindlimb-suspended (HLS) mice (to simulate reduced loading) for the same duration. Knee cartilage was assessed via 3-dimensional reconstruction of micro-CT scans and histology. We observed significant thinning and volume reduction of articular cartilage at the medial tibial-femoral point of

SUBMITTER: Chiaberge M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11825961 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature