Positive effects of moderate exercise on glycosaminoglycan content in knee cartilage: a four-month, randomized, controlled trial in patients at risk of osteoarthritis

Roos EM, Dahlberg L · Arthritis and Rheumatism

Cartilage GAG content (dGEMRIC T1(Gd)) improved in the exercise group vs control (+15 vs -15 msec, p=0.036); change in activity level correlated with GAG improvement (r=0.70). First human RCT suggesting cartilage adapts positively to moderate loading.

Population

Adults (mean age 46) 3-5 years after partial medial meniscectomy, at high risk of knee OA

Intervention

Supervised aerobic and weight-bearing exercise 3x/week for 4 months

Comparator

No-exercise control

Limitations

Small (n=30 analyzed), surrogate imaging outcome, single center, unblinded participants; at-risk population rather than established OA.