The morphological and biochemical adaptations of knee meniscus to prolonged exercise were studied. Female Sprague-Dawley rats maintained under controlled environmental conditions were randomly assigned to either an endurance-trained or a sedentary group. Training consisted of a progressive exercise protocol on a motor-driven treadmill, 5 days/wk for 12 wk. Knee lateral menisci were obtained from anesthetized rats and used for morphological and biochemical analyses. Gastrocnemius succinate dehydrogenase increased 65% in the endurance-trained group, as evidence for a training effect. In the trained group, collagen, proteoglycan, and calcium concentrations increased significantly in the posterior region of the lateral meniscus. In contrast, no significant changes were found in the anterior region of the lateral meniscus. The region-specific changes in meniscal concentrations of calcium and matrix macromolecules in response to prolonged exercise are consistent with the distinctly different mechanical properties and functional roles of the anterior and posterior regions of the rat knee meniscus.

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The effects of an acute injection of synthetic salmon calcitonin (sCT) and human CT (hCT) and of long term (4-month) administration of sCT on serum glucose levels were investigated in eight patients with Paget's disease of bone. The results obtained demonstrate a small but statistically significant rise in serum glucose after a single sc injection of synthetic hCT. However, the serum glucose level was not increased after 4 months of daily administration of synthetic sCT to our pagetic patients. Our results also substantiate the clinical observation that long term administration of CT does not cause clinical diabetes or significantly change fasting blood glucose concentration. Our results are also consistent with the view that the effect of CT administration on glucose metabolism is related to the secondary hypocalcemia.