Changes in Thickness of Tangential Zone of Ageing Male Human Articular Cartilage of Knee Joint

Background: To study the changes in thickness of tangential zone of male human articular cartilage. Methods: In this descriptive study forty samples of articular cartilage of knee joint were collected from unknown male dead bodies of 21-60 years of age,within six hours of death. Samples showing gros...

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Main Author: Shaista Ali
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Rawalpindi Medical University 2014-12-01
Series:Journal of Rawalpindi Medical College
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.journalrmc.com/index.php/JRMC/article/view/352
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author Shaista Ali
author_facet Shaista Ali
author_sort Shaista Ali
collection DOAJ
description Background: To study the changes in thickness of tangential zone of male human articular cartilage. Methods: In this descriptive study forty samples of articular cartilage of knee joint were collected from unknown male dead bodies of 21-60 years of age,within six hours of death. Samples showing gross abnormality and deformity and signs of trauma or surgery of the knee joints were excluded. The collected samples of articular cartilage were divided in four groups,depending upon the age of the cadaver i.e. Group A: 21 – 30 years, Group B: 31 – 40 years. Group C: 41 – 50 years. Group D: 51 – 60 years. Articular cartilage of femoral condyle of right sided knee joint was selected. Skin was incised by giving a transverse incision extending from medial to lateral epicondyle of femur. It was retracted upwards and downwards and the quadriceps tendon was exposed. Tendon was cut by giving inverted “U” shaped incision starting above the patella and extending downwards to the tibial condyle on either side of ligamentum patellae. The cut tendon was reflected downwards along with patella to expose the articular cartilage of femoral condyle. Knee joint was flexed and 1 cm x 1 cm full thickness chip of articular cartilage was removed from the tibial surface of femoral condyle, 1 cm medial to the medial margin of intercondylar fossa with the chisel. The specimens were immediately placed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for 48 hour, processed for paraffin embedding. Five micrometer thick sections were made on rotary microtome and mounted on clear albumin coated slides. Masson’s Trichrome stain was used for the evaluations of the thickness of tangential zone with the help of micrometer. The mean thickness was noted by taking of three random thicknesses and dividing them by three in each sample. Results: The mean thickness of tangential zone was 111 ± 12.86 μm in group A , 110 ± 10.54 μm in group B, 60.43 ± 25.85 μm in group C and 58.89 ± 19.65 μm in group D . The difference in mean thickness of tangential zone was statistically significant in all study groups (p-value = 0.000). As age advanced diminishing thickness of tangential zone became evident. Conclusion: In ageing articular cartilage the thickness of tangential zone decreases markedly leading to osteoarthritis. Presence of stem cells makes it focus of intense study for preventive measures and treatment trends
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spelling doaj.art-2fa9619c7b3f437d88e59ac38c7546fb2022-12-22T03:06:19ZengRawalpindi Medical UniversityJournal of Rawalpindi Medical College1683-35621683-35702014-12-01192Changes in Thickness of Tangential Zone of Ageing Male Human Articular Cartilage of Knee JointShaista Ali0Department of Anatomy, Rawalpindi Medical College, RawalpindBackground: To study the changes in thickness of tangential zone of male human articular cartilage. Methods: In this descriptive study forty samples of articular cartilage of knee joint were collected from unknown male dead bodies of 21-60 years of age,within six hours of death. Samples showing gross abnormality and deformity and signs of trauma or surgery of the knee joints were excluded. The collected samples of articular cartilage were divided in four groups,depending upon the age of the cadaver i.e. Group A: 21 – 30 years, Group B: 31 – 40 years. Group C: 41 – 50 years. Group D: 51 – 60 years. Articular cartilage of femoral condyle of right sided knee joint was selected. Skin was incised by giving a transverse incision extending from medial to lateral epicondyle of femur. It was retracted upwards and downwards and the quadriceps tendon was exposed. Tendon was cut by giving inverted “U” shaped incision starting above the patella and extending downwards to the tibial condyle on either side of ligamentum patellae. The cut tendon was reflected downwards along with patella to expose the articular cartilage of femoral condyle. Knee joint was flexed and 1 cm x 1 cm full thickness chip of articular cartilage was removed from the tibial surface of femoral condyle, 1 cm medial to the medial margin of intercondylar fossa with the chisel. The specimens were immediately placed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for 48 hour, processed for paraffin embedding. Five micrometer thick sections were made on rotary microtome and mounted on clear albumin coated slides. Masson’s Trichrome stain was used for the evaluations of the thickness of tangential zone with the help of micrometer. The mean thickness was noted by taking of three random thicknesses and dividing them by three in each sample. Results: The mean thickness of tangential zone was 111 ± 12.86 μm in group A , 110 ± 10.54 μm in group B, 60.43 ± 25.85 μm in group C and 58.89 ± 19.65 μm in group D . The difference in mean thickness of tangential zone was statistically significant in all study groups (p-value = 0.000). As age advanced diminishing thickness of tangential zone became evident. Conclusion: In ageing articular cartilage the thickness of tangential zone decreases markedly leading to osteoarthritis. Presence of stem cells makes it focus of intense study for preventive measures and treatment trendshttps://www.journalrmc.com/index.php/JRMC/article/view/352Articular cartilagetangential zoneosteoarthritis
spellingShingle Shaista Ali
Changes in Thickness of Tangential Zone of Ageing Male Human Articular Cartilage of Knee Joint
Journal of Rawalpindi Medical College
Articular cartilage
tangential zone
osteoarthritis
title Changes in Thickness of Tangential Zone of Ageing Male Human Articular Cartilage of Knee Joint
title_full Changes in Thickness of Tangential Zone of Ageing Male Human Articular Cartilage of Knee Joint
title_fullStr Changes in Thickness of Tangential Zone of Ageing Male Human Articular Cartilage of Knee Joint
title_full_unstemmed Changes in Thickness of Tangential Zone of Ageing Male Human Articular Cartilage of Knee Joint
title_short Changes in Thickness of Tangential Zone of Ageing Male Human Articular Cartilage of Knee Joint
title_sort changes in thickness of tangential zone of ageing male human articular cartilage of knee joint
topic Articular cartilage
tangential zone
osteoarthritis
url https://www.journalrmc.com/index.php/JRMC/article/view/352
work_keys_str_mv AT shaistaali changesinthicknessoftangentialzoneofageingmalehumanarticularcartilageofkneejoint