To determine whether smoking affects knee cartilage in healthy adults by examining the association of tobacco use with tibial cartilage volume and tibiofemoral cartilage defects.
Two hundred and ninety-seven healthy adult subjects were recruited from an existing cohort examining healthy aging, the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS). Questionnaire data were obtained at recruitment to the MCCS in 1990-1994 and at magnetic resonance imaging to determine cartilage outcomes in 2003.
Tibial cartilage volume was positively associated with subjects who ever smoked as well as pack-years smoked, suggesting a dose-response. There was no association between smoking and presence of tibiofemoral cartilage defects.
Our findings demonstrate that smoking is associated with increased tibial cartilage volume but not presence of tibiofemoral cartilage defects, providing further support for a beneficial effect on articular knee cartilage.