Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40649430›Full record

ArticleMaterials (Basel, Switzerland)2025

Assessment of CA4+ Impact on Mechanical Properties of Articular Cartilage.

Matteo Berni, Simone Fantoni, Roberta Fognani, Paolo Cardarelli, Fabio Baruffaldi, Massimiliano Baleani

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Materials (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Matteo BerniLaboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-9113-9451
Simone FantoniLaboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-1459-3356
Roberta FognaniLaboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, Italy.
Paolo CardarelliDivision of Ferrara, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), 44122 Ferrara, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-4177-6756
Fabio BaruffaldiLaboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-8784-5652
Massimiliano BaleaniLaboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-9759-6474

Funding

Italian Ministry of Health RF-2018-12368274
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

X-ray imaging of articular cartilage could be a breakthrough for the early diagnosis of tissue degeneration. This approach relies on radiopaque contrast agents to enhance the visualization of soft tissues. The potential impact of contrast agents on the mechanical response of articular cartilage should be considered in the frame of both clinical and research applications. Attention has been drawn to a solution containing molecules with six iodine atoms and four positive charges (CA4+), which has been shown to improve the X-ray visibility of articular cartilage. This study aimed to determine the effects of a CA4+ solution on tissues' mechanical properties. An experimental pipeline based on indentation tests was applied to paired samples of articular cartilage before and after the immersion in either CA4+ or phosphate-buffered saline solution, maintained at a temperature of 22 ± 2 °C, for 22 h to determine the differences in instantaneous, viscous, and equilibrium responses between the articular cartilage of the two groups. The 22 h immersion of articular cartilage in either CA4+ or phosphate-buffered saline solution had a significant detrimental effect on the overall response, including the instantaneous, viscous, and equilibrium responses, of the articular cartilage. However, this detrimental effect was greater with exposure to the CA4+ solution. Specifically, the articular cartilage was found to be less stiff in both the instantaneous response (approximately -25%) and the equilibrium response (approximately -38%). The softening effect could be attributable to an alteration of the interaction between the proteoglycans of articular cartilage, induced by the positive charges within the CA4+ contrast agent. Further investigations are needed to elucidate whether this hypothesized mechanism is reversible.

Indexed as

articular cartilagecartilage degenerationcharacterization of materialscontrast agentcontrast-enhanced imagingearly diagnosisindentationmechanical propertiessoft tissueX-ray imaging

Identifiers

PMID40649430
PMCPMC12250616

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.