| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 673708 | Thermochimica Acta | 2013 | 4 Pages |
•We summarize our experiences with use of DSC for the diagnosis and prognostic grading of human musculoskeletal diseases.•We found a recognizable pattern in comparison of the thermal characteristics of the studied human tissue samples.•Utilization of DSC scans would provide help to select the most sufficient treatment for musculoskeletal diseases.
BackgroundThe degenerative and inflammatory diseases of the musculoskeletal system have shown a significant increase over the past decades. Despite of the improved diagnostic techniques, reaching for the correct diagnosis in time still could be challenging. Therefore, there is a growing need for new methods to further improve the diagnostic procedures and help to select the most sufficient treatment.AimsThe purpose of the study was to evaluate whether there is a significantly different pattern in comparison of the thermal denaturation characteristics of the degenerative or inflamed collagen samples with the healthy human connective tissue. Here we compare our results – based on the thermal analyzes of collagen structures from 13 different types of pathologic or healthy human tissue samples – with the data recently published in the literature.Materials and methodsDifferent types of ligaments, connective tissues, joint capsules, arthritic or septic hyaline cartilage were collected from pathologic or healthy human origin. The thermal denaturation of the samples was monitored by a SETARAM Micro DSC-II calorimeter.ResultsDSC scans demonstrated significant differences between the pathologic and healthy groups, indicating that the thermal stability of the examined degenerative or inflamed pathologic samples is significantly different. In cases of degenerative samples, the enthalpy was significantly decreased, while the melting temperature showed an increase. Contrary, inflamed samples demonstrated a significant increase in the enthalpy and the melting temperature was decreased.ConclusionDSC analysis could be a clinically relevant method in the diagnosis of different types of musculoskeletal diseases.
