Immobilization by 21-days of bed rest causes changes in biomarkers of cartilage homeostasis in healthy individuals

Dreiner M, Godonou ET, Mündermann A, Tascilar K, Schett G, Zaucke F, Liphardt AM, Niehoff A (2025)


Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

Book Volume: 7

Article Number: 100597

Journal Issue: 2

DOI: 10.1016/j.ocarto.2025.100597

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effects of 21 days bed rest immobilization (with and without exercise and nutrition intervention) on serum concentrations of cartilage homeostasis biomarkers in healthy individuals. Design: Twelve male volunteers (age 34.2 ​± ​8.3 years; BMI 22.4 ​± ​1.7 ​kg/m2) participated in 6 days of baseline data collection (BDC), 21 days of 6° head-down-tilt (HDT) bed rest (CON) ​+ ​interventions HDT ​+ ​resistive vibration exercise (RVE; 2 times/week; 25 ​min) and HDT ​+ ​RVE ​+ ​nutrition (NeX; 0.6 ​g/kg body weight/day whey protein and 90 ​mmol KHCO3/day bicarbonate supplementation), and 6 days of recovery (R) in a cross-over designed study. The starting HDT condition was randomized (CON-RVE-NeX, RVE-NeX-CON, NeX-CON-RVE). Blood samples were collected before, during and after HDT. Serum concentrations of COMP, MMP-3, MMP-9, YKL-40 and resistin were analyzed. Results: The main effect of time was significant for all biomarkers tested (p ​< ​0.001). While COMP (−36 ​% at HDT5, p ​< ​0.001) and MMP-3 (−36 ​% at HDT21, p ​< ​0.001) decreased during HDT bed rest, MMP-9 (+18 ​% at HDT5, p ​< ​0.001) and resistin (+13 ​% at HDT21, p ​< ​0.001) increased during HDT bed rest. Interestingly, during recovery, YKL-40 levels increased (+13 ​% at R1, p ​= ​0.022), while MMP-9 levels decreased (−19 ​% at R6, p ​= ​0.035). We identified correlations between COMP and MMP-3 (rrm ​= ​0.58, p ​< ​0.001) as well as between MMP-9 and resistin (rrm ​= ​0.58, p ​< ​0.001). Conclusions: Immobilization affects serum concentrations of cartilage homeostasis biomarkers suggesting changes in cartilage metabolism that do not completely recover during re-ambulation. Both interventions had only minimal effects.

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APA:

Dreiner, M., Godonou, E.-T., Mündermann, A., Tascilar, K., Schett, G., Zaucke, F.,... Niehoff, A. (2025). Immobilization by 21-days of bed rest causes changes in biomarkers of cartilage homeostasis in healthy individuals. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocarto.2025.100597

MLA:

Dreiner, Maren, et al. "Immobilization by 21-days of bed rest causes changes in biomarkers of cartilage homeostasis in healthy individuals." Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open 7.2 (2025).

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