Tendon and ligament from the horse: an ultrastructural study of collagen fibrils and elastic fibres as a function of age

Abstract

A study has been made of the ultrastructural organization of the collagen fibrils and elastic fibres in tendons and ligaments from horses of ages ranging from 2 months premature to 19 years. Diameter distributions of the collagen fibrils in the common digital extensor tendon, the superficial flexor tendon and the suspensory ligament are unimodal in the foetal tissue and at birth, and at these stages of development the three collagenous tissues are virtually indistinguishable. However, at maturity, the ligament and flexor tendon have bimodal distributions similar to that found for rat-tail tendon. The fibril distribution for extensor tendon remains unimodal until the onset of maturity, beyond which the distribution becomes bimodal. Fibril diameter distributions for ligament, extensor and flexor tendon at old age are, as at birth, virtually identical. An estimate has been made of fibrillar collagen content in the three tissues as a function of age. As with rat-tail tendon, the collagen content increases steadily from birth to maturity, at which stage the content remains fairly constant though it does drop slowly with increasing age. The presence of well developed elastic tissue in foetal and immature tendon and ligament shows that the development of the elastic fibres does not parallel the development of the collagen fibrils. In diseased tissues from a 3 year suspensory ligament and an 8.5 year superficial flexor tendon only immature elastic fibres have been observed. Furthermore, since the collagen fibril diameter distributions in these specimens show a marked change from the norm, it would be expected that the mechanical properties of these tissues would be altered significantly.