Reduction in infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) volume during diet and exercise intervention is associated with improvements in knee function, quality of life, and inflammatory serum markers
F. Eckstein Osteoarthritis and Cartilage VOLUME 26, SUPPLEMENT 1, S328-S329, APRIL 01, 2018
Purpose: Mechanical factors have failed to fully explain the relationship between obesity and knee OA. The infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) may provide a missing link between “obesity” and “OA” by causing low-grade inflammation and pain through the (intra-articular) secretion of leptin and other proinflammatory cytokines. Diet intervention was shown to beneficially affect knee pain and function and was associated with reductions in knee loading and serum inflammatory markers. 3D MR image analysis revealed that the IPFP volume was effectively reduced by an 18-month exercise and diet intervention, and this more so by a combination of diet and exercise (−5.2%) or by diet (−4.0%) than by exercise alone (−2.1%). The purpose of the current study was to examine whether the longitudinal reduction in IPFP volume during the intervention is associated with improvement in knee symptoms, function, quality of life, and inflammatory serum markers, and how the relationships compared to those with a change in body weight.
Methods: The Intensive Diet and Exercise for Arthritis trial (IDEA) was a prospective, single blind, randomized controlled trial that enrolled 454 overweight or obese (BMI = 27 to 41 kg/m2) older adults (age ≥ 55yrs) with knee pain and radiographic OA. Participants were randomized to three 18 month interventions: exercise only control (E), diet only (D), and diet+exercise (D+E). In a subsample of 106 participants (E: n = 36; D: n = 35; D+E: n = 35); MRIs were obtained at baseline and at the 18-month follow-up. A sagittal T1 weighted spin echo acquisition was used to segment the entire IPFP, with blinding to intervention group and time point of acquisition, and IPFP volume was calculated (Fig. 1; posterior view of the knee; IPFP visualized in yellow [cartilages in blue and meniscus in green])
Results: A significant relationship between the reduction of the IPFP volume over 18 months and improvement in WOMAC function was seen in the adjusted models (Table 1), but not in the non-adjusted ones (data not shown). The relationship between change in IPFP and WOMAC knee pain did not reach statistical significance, but that of IPFP change with a change in serum inflammatory markers (IL6, CRP), the physical health quality of life summary score (SF 36 Physical), and knee compressive force did (Table 1). Change in weight was more strongly associated with the inflammatory markers and clinical measures than a change in IPFP. A stepwise regression model for “change in WOMAC function” included “baseline values of WOMAC function, sex, and “change in body weight”, but not ”change in IPFP volume”. A mediation analysis confirmed that the IPFP term lost its significance for WOMAC function, whereas the treatment assignment or change in weight remained significant.
Conclusions: Because of the strong association of body weight change and IPFP volume change, disentangling the relative importance of each is challenging, keeping in mind that measuring the change in body weight may be more precise than measuring change in IPFP volume. Limitations of this study are the lack of a no-attention control group (without exercise intervention) and the lack of intra-articular inflammatory markers. Longitudinal reduction in IPFP volume during 18-month diet and exercise intervention was significantly associated with improvements in knee function, quality of life, inflammatory serum markers, and knee compressive force. Yet, despite the significant relationship between IPFP change with that in inflammation and clinical outcome measures, this relationship did not account for additional variability independent of body weight.