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Cam morphology describes an asphericity of the femoral head that develops during adolescence, is highly prevalent in athletes, and predisposes individuals to future osteoarthritis. However, it’s aetiology remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to perform 3-year longitudinal follow-up of a control population and football club academy cohort to compare the change in hip and growth plate anatomy between athletes and controls. MRI and questionnaires were used to characterise change in hip and growth plate anatomy and quantify activity levels. 121 male academy footballers and 107 male and female controls participated at baseline. Footballers experienced significantly greater increases in femoral head asphericity (4.83 degrees (95% CI: 2.84 to 6.82), p

The cytotoxicity of alloying elements in newly developed biodegradable metals can be assessed through relatively low-cost and rapid in vitro studies using different cell types. However, such approaches have limitations; as such, additional investigations in small mammalian models are required that recapitulate the physiological environment. In this study, we established a zebrafish (Danio rerio) model for cytotoxicity evaluations that combines the physiological aspects of an animal model with the speed and simplicity of a cell-based assay. The model was used to assess the cytotoxicity of five common alloying elements in biodegradable implant materials. Conventional in vitro testing using heart, liver, and endothelial cell lines performed in parallel with zebrafish studies revealed statistically significant differences in toxicity (up to 100-fold), along with distinct changes in the morphology of the heart, liver, and blood vessels that were undetectable in cell cultures. These results indicate that our zebrafish model is a useful alternative to mammalian systems for accurately and rapidly evaluating the in vivo toxicity of newly developed metallic materials.