Ultrastructure of chondrocytes in osteoarthritic femoral articular cartilage.
BACKGROUND
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common problem in elderly, but it is not an inevitable feature of ageing. About 80-90% of individuals of both sexes have radiographic evidence of OA by the time they reach an age of 65. But not all of them have the symptoms like pain and decreased joint motion.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of the present study was conducted to find out whether the osteoarthritic changes in human articular cartilage are similar to the ageing process or not.


METHODS
Femoral articular cartilage specimens obtained from 13 osteoarthritic patients (52-80 years) undergoing total knee replacement and 9 cadavers of same age group (50-80 years) (control) were processed and studied under electron microscope. The ultrastructure of the cartilage from the two groups was compared with each other.


RESULTS
Under the electron microscope, articular cartilage from control group had chondrocytes having a secretary cell characteristic with prominent nucleus and well developed organelles. In osteoarthritic cartilage, degenerating or necrotic chondrocytes were found. Nuclei of these chondrocytes appeared lobulated or indented. Chondrocytes below the fibrillated surface had dilated and irregular endoplasmic reticulum. Electron dense lipid deposits in the extracellular matrix as well as intracytoplasmic glycogen deposits were much increased in osteoarthritic cartilage as compared to the control group. Amount of perinuclear intracytoplasmic fine filaments was also increased in the chondrocytes of osteoarthritic cartilage.


CONCLUSIONS
Ultrastructural findings of the osteoarthritic articular cartilage were much different from the ageing non-osteoarthritic cartilage. Hence, OA should be considered a specific process and not simply an inevitable feature of ageing.
Department of Anatomy, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India.
N
N
Goyal
Department of Anatomy, Swami Devi Dayal Dental College and Hospital, Golpura, Barwala.
M
M
Gupta
Department of Histopathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
K
K
Joshi
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002102:Cadaver; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged; D015207:Osteoarthritis, Hip / Q000473:pathology*