MICROCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN TIBIAL GROWTH CARTILAGE IN VARIOUS FORMS OF DWARFISM

Abstract

ABSTRACT Microchemical determinations of glycosaminoglycans and collagen were preformed in isolated histological zones from sections of tibial epiphyseal plate biopsies obtained from children with growth disorders (pituitary dwarfism, congenital myxoedema, Turner's syndrome, Noonan's syndrome, mucopolysaccharidosis type VI, vitamin D resistant rickets and achondroplasia). Alternate sections were used for histochemical localization of glycosaminoglycans and proteins. The values were compared with those found in comparable zones of the growth plate from normal children of the same age. The chondroitin sulphate concentration (% of defatted dry wt.) in the normal epiphyseal plate increased from the resting zone towards the proliferating/hypertrophic zone; collagen exhibited a reverse trend. In some of the pathological biopsies the concentration of chondroitin sulphate was slightly decreased whereas that of collagen was slightly increased. A marked increase in the collagen concentration was found in achondroplasia. The solubility profiles of the cetylpyridinium complexes of the chondroitin sulphate fraction showed three main peaks with slight but characteristic differences in the various zones of the normal cartilage plate. Significant shifts in the proportion of these peaks were observed in several pathological biopsies, indicating possible deviations from the normal molecular characteristics of the chondroitin sulphate. Analysis of the main chondroitin sulphate fraction, obtained from pooled samples of normal tibial growth plate after fractionation on the macroscale, indicated that all three peaks contained both chondroitin-4 sulphate and chondroitin-6 sulphate and that they probably differed in their molecular weight.