Skip to main content
Journal cover image

The effects of exposure of articular cartilage to air. A histochemical and ultrastructural investigation.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Speer, KP; Callaghan, JJ; Seaber, AV; Tucker, JA
Published in: J Bone Joint Surg Am
December 1990

The effects of exposure of articular cartilage to air and the potential for reversibility of the histological and ultrastructural changes that were produced by this exposure were investigated in the knee joint of the rabbit. After a medial parapatellar arthrotomy and lateral dislocation of the patella, the surface of the articular cartilage was exposed to air for one, two, and three hours in forty-five rabbits. Reversibility of the changes was assessed in fifteen rabbits after exposure of the cartilage to air for three hours, closure of the joint, and six weeks of recovery. Histochemical and ultrastructural changes were evaluated, with use of the contralateral non-exposed knee joint as a control. Depletion of glycosaminoglycans in the matrix of articular cartilage, as indicated by a loss of surface staining with toluidine blue, occurred after one hour of exposure to air. Ultrastructural changes occurred in chondrocytes throughout the full thickness of articular cartilage after one hour of exposure. Increases in the time of exposure to air resulted in more pronounced ultrastructural abnormalities in chondrocytes throughout the entire thickness of the articular cartilage, but there was no apparent irreversible cellular injury. Six weeks after arthrotomy, the chondrocytes had fully recovered from the changes that had been noted immediately after exposure to air, and they were devoid of degenerative changes. The cells showed ultrastructural evidence of increased metabolic activity in the nucleus and cytoplasm. In addition, the chondrocytes had partially restored the depleted glycosaminoglycans.

Duke Scholars

Published In

J Bone Joint Surg Am

ISSN

0021-9355

Publication Date

December 1990

Volume

72

Issue

10

Start / End Page

1442 / 1450

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Time Factors
  • Rabbits
  • Orthopedics
  • Knee Joint
  • Histocytochemistry
  • Glycosaminoglycans
  • Extracellular Matrix
  • Chromatin
  • Cartilage, Articular
  • Animals
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Speer, K. P., Callaghan, J. J., Seaber, A. V., & Tucker, J. A. (1990). The effects of exposure of articular cartilage to air. A histochemical and ultrastructural investigation. J Bone Joint Surg Am, 72(10), 1442–1450.
Speer, K. P., J. J. Callaghan, A. V. Seaber, and J. A. Tucker. “The effects of exposure of articular cartilage to air. A histochemical and ultrastructural investigation.J Bone Joint Surg Am 72, no. 10 (December 1990): 1442–50.
Speer KP, Callaghan JJ, Seaber AV, Tucker JA. The effects of exposure of articular cartilage to air. A histochemical and ultrastructural investigation. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1990 Dec;72(10):1442–50.
Speer, K. P., et al. “The effects of exposure of articular cartilage to air. A histochemical and ultrastructural investigation.J Bone Joint Surg Am, vol. 72, no. 10, Dec. 1990, pp. 1442–50.
Speer KP, Callaghan JJ, Seaber AV, Tucker JA. The effects of exposure of articular cartilage to air. A histochemical and ultrastructural investigation. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1990 Dec;72(10):1442–1450.
Journal cover image

Published In

J Bone Joint Surg Am

ISSN

0021-9355

Publication Date

December 1990

Volume

72

Issue

10

Start / End Page

1442 / 1450

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Time Factors
  • Rabbits
  • Orthopedics
  • Knee Joint
  • Histocytochemistry
  • Glycosaminoglycans
  • Extracellular Matrix
  • Chromatin
  • Cartilage, Articular
  • Animals