Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis Leads To Structural And Functional Brain Changes In Aged Rats

Purpose: While aging is a known risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA), the potential accelerated aging effects of OA are poorly understood. For example, OA patients with severe chronic pain have decreased telomere lengths compared to patients with low pain severity or healthy age-matched controls. In addition, brain remodeling indicative of accelerated aging is seen in patients with chronic pain, including OA. Specific mechanisms through which this brain remodeling occurs in OA are unknown, and preclinical models of OA that would help to identify mechanistic relationships are weakly characterized. In this study, we use structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to characterize brain alterations in aging rats following induction of OA and chronic joint pain via medial collateral ligament and medial meniscus transection (MCLT+MMT).