The Composition of the Organic Component of Human Articular Cartilage

The Glycosaminoglycans of Normal and Arthritic Cartilage

“…The findings in the normal tissues are essentially consistent with those for adult cartilage as reported by other investigators both for total quantity of GAG and percentage distribution (33,34). Stockwell The change in the osteoarthritic cartilage differs somewhat from that reported by others.…”

“…The findings in this study confirm those of Anderson et al (33) and Benmaman et al (34) in that there was only an 11.7% decrease in total GAG, and this was principally in the keratan sulfate fraction. The lack of confirmation of the findings of Bollet et al (12,13) are probably based on the problems of sampling described in the early part of the discussion.…”

“…1 (10) corroborated the stability of the glucosamine content of costal cartilage after age 25, and the recent studies of Mathews and Glagov (8) showed that the chondroitin 4-and 6-sulfate and keratosulfate concentrations of aging human rib cartilage remained essentially the same after the 5th decade. This lack of change with age was confirmed in articular cartilage by Bollet and Nance (13), Anderson and coworkers (33,34) and Kuhn and Leppelmann (9), all of whom established the relative stability of the total and some of the component GAGs between the ages of 40 and 90. To establish that the keratan sulfate values were not materially affected by age, 8 more femoral heads were obtained from patients without osteoarthritic disease whose ages ranged from 61 to 82 and the keratosulfate values for the entire group of 21 patients plotted against their ages.…”

“…The increase in concentration of sulfate in one of the GAGs of the osteoarthritis tissue is a finding which has not been previously noted by those who have studied the chemical aspects of the disease (12,33,34). The phenomenon of "oversulfation" is well -recognized, particularly in the keratan sulfates (31,32).…”

Biochemical Findings in Normal and Osteoarthritic Articular Cartilage. II. Chondroitin Sulfate Concentration and Chain Length, Water, and Ash Content*

“…The age ranges studied are limited to older adults; no statements can be made comparing children or young adults, but the age range observed includes the period of most frequent development and progression of osteoarthritis. Other studies of articular cartilage have revealed an absence of age dependent changes in the concentration of hexosamine (17), total solids, percentage of extracellular and intracellular solids, total sulfate, and total potassium (18), although an increase in intracellular water with a decrease in extracellular water was found in older age groups (18). The failure to find significant biochemical changes in aged but normal articular cartilage and the focal distribution of the biochemical as well as pathological changes in this disease point to the need for studies of focal factors influencing metabolic phenomena in articular cartilage in analyzing the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis.…”