# Steps Towards OA Prevention

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2024 · $121,473

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of disability. Identifying modifiable mechanisms of poor knee joint health
development for disease prevention strategies are critical to improving long-term health. Aberrant mechanical
loading has been theorized as a primary risk factor for knee OA. Most studies primarily focus on mechanical
mechanisms of excessive joint loading in OA development. However, recent evidence suggests that joint
underloading may also play a role. The effects of low loading frequency assessed via daily steps in real world
settings on knee joint health is an understudied parameter of aberrant mechanical loading in individuals at risk
for OA. Individuals with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury who undergo ACL reconstruction (ACLR) surgery
are a representative population to assess the effects of low loading frequency on knee joint health because they
are at elevated risk for posttraumatic OA development and demonstrate low daily steps compared to uninjured
individuals. Therefore, the overall study objective is to determine the mechanistic links between joint loading
frequency and comprehensive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of knee joint cartilage health in
individuals post-ACLR. The central hypothesis is that individuals post-ACLR who take low daily steps will
demonstrate deconditioned, less resilient cartilage characterized by poor tibiofemoral cartilage composition and
greater cartilage strain which represent equally important, but independent measures of cartilage health.
Furthermore, increasing daily steps using a 16-week daily step promotion paradigm in individuals post-ACLR
who underload (<7000 daily steps which is predictive of physical inactivity) will recondition cartilage by improving
tibiofemoral cartilage composition and strain. The proposed study aims to determine: 1) associations between
daily steps with tibiofemoral cartilage composition and strain in ACLR individuals (n=56) using an observational
cross-sectional study design, and 2) the effects of increasing daily steps over 16-weeks on tibiofemoral cartilage
composition and strain in ACLR individuals with low daily steps (n=28) using a single arm, longitudinal pre-test
post-test study design. The proposed study is innovative because it builds on observational studies linking
underloading with poor knee joint health and will be the first study to mechanistically determine how altering
loading frequency (i.e., increasing daily steps) affects comprehensive in vivo measures of cartilage health in
individuals at risk for OA. Successful completion of the proposed study will provide foundational evidence for the
development of a future randomized controlled trial to determine the efficacy of an adaptive daily step promotion
intervention to reduce the risk of OA development in high-risk individuals. The proposed K01 Career
Development Award will provide the investigator with protected time to advance analysis and interpretation of
M...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10906825
- **Project number:** 5K01AR082421-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Caroline M Lisee
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $121,473
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-15 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10906825

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10906825, Steps Towards OA Prevention (5K01AR082421-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10906825. Licensed CC0.

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