Abstract
Background
Aging is the most prominent risk factor for the development of osteoarthritis (OA),
which affects knees and causes major health burdens. Meniscal dysfunction mostly based
on degeneration contributes to the development and progression of knee OA. Meniscal
degeneration is caused by various extrinsic factors, such as repetitive trauma or
leg malalignment, while meniscal aging is considered as internal changes, such as
molecular or cellular changes. Little is known about age-related changes in the meniscus.
Therefore, this review aimed to summarize and clarify the understanding of the aged
meniscus.
Methods
There are few articles about natural aging in the meniscus, because most reports only
demonstrate the effects of OA on the meniscus. We searched PubMed (1948 to November
2016) to identify and summarize all English-language articles evaluating natural aging
in the meniscus.
Results
There is evidence of compositional change in the meniscus with aging, involving cells,
collagens, and proteoglycans. In addition, as recent reports on the natural aging
of cartilage have indicated, senescence of the meniscal cells may also lead to disruption
of meniscal cells and tissue homeostasis. Due to the low turnover rate of collagen,
accumulation of advanced glycation end-products largely contributes to tissue stiffness
and vulnerability, and finally results in degenerative changes or tears. Furthermore,
environmental factors such as joint fluid secreted by inflamed synovium could also
contribute to meniscal tissue deterioration.
Conclusions
Age-related changes induce meniscal tissue vulnerability and finally lead to meniscal
dysfunction.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 30, 2017
Accepted:
August 1,
2017
Received in revised form:
July 17,
2017
Received:
December 30,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
