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Discontinuities in the endothelium of epiphyseal cartilage canals and relevance to joint disease in foals.

ABSTRACT: Cartilage canals have been shown to contain discontinuous blood vessels that enable circulating bacteria to bind to cartilage matrix, leading to vascular occlusion and associated pathological changes in pigs and chickens. It is also inconsistently reported that cartilage canals are surrounded by a cellular or acellular wall that may influence whether bacterial binding can occur. It is not known whether equine cartilage canals contain discontinuous endothelium or are surrounded by a wall. This study aimed to examine whether there were discontinuities in the endothelium of cartilage canal vessels, and whether canals had a cellular or acellular wall, in the epiphyseal growth cartilage of foals. Epiphyseal growth cartilage from the proximal third of the medial trochlear ridge of the distal femur from six healthy foals that were 1, 24, 35, 47, 118 and 122?days old and of different breeds and sexes was examined by light microscopy (LM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and immunohistochemistry. The majority of patent cartilage canals contained blood vessels that were lined by a thin layer of continuous endothelium. Fenestrations were found in two locations in one venule in a patent cartilage canal located deep in the growth cartilage and close to the ossification front in the 118-day-old foal. Chondrifying cartilage canals in all TEM-examined foals contained degenerated endothelial cells that were detached from the basement membrane, resulting in gap formation. Thirty-three percent of all canals were surrounded by a hypercellular rim that was interpreted as contribution of chondrocytes to growth cartilage. On LM, 69% of all cartilage canals were surrounded by a ring of matrix that stained intensely eosinophilic and consisted of collagen fibres on TEM that were confirmed to be collagen type I by immunohistochemistry. In summary, two types of discontinuity were observed in the endothelium of equine epiphyseal cartilage canal vessels: fenestrations were observed in a patent cartilage canal in the 118-day-old foal; and gaps were observed in chondrifying cartilage canals in all TEM-examined foals. Canals were not surrounded by any cellular wall, but a large proportion was surrounded by an acellular wall consisting of collagen type I. Bacterial binding can therefore probably occur in horses by mechanisms that are similar to those previously demonstrated in pigs and chickens.

SUBMITTER: Hellings IR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4694163 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Discontinuities in the endothelium of epiphyseal cartilage canals and relevance to joint disease in foals.

Hellings Ingunn Risnes IR Ekman Stina S Hultenby Kjell K Dolvik Nils Ivar NI Olstad Kristin K

Journal of anatomy 20151015 1

Cartilage canals have been shown to contain discontinuous blood vessels that enable circulating bacteria to bind to cartilage matrix, leading to vascular occlusion and associated pathological changes in pigs and chickens. It is also inconsistently reported that cartilage canals are surrounded by a cellular or acellular wall that may influence whether bacterial binding can occur. It is not known whether equine cartilage canals contain discontinuous endothelium or are surrounded by a wall. This st ...[more]

PMID: 26471892

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Project description:Some epiphyseal growth cartilage canals are surrounded by a ring of hypereosinophilic matrix consisting of collagen type I. Absence of the collagen type I ring may predispose canal vessels to failure and osteochondrosis, which can lead to fragments in joints (osteochondrosis dissecans). It is not known whether the ring develops in response to programming or biomechanical force. The distribution that may reveal the function of the ring has only been described in the distal femur of a limited number of foals. It is also not known which cells are responsible for producing the collagen ring. The aims of the current study were to examine fetuses and foals to infer whether the ring forms in response to biomechanical force or programming, to describe distribution and to investigate which cell type produces the ring. The material consisted of 46 fetuses and foals from 293 days of gestation to 142 days old, of both sexes and different breeds, divided into three groups, designated the naïve group up to and including the day of birth, the adapting group from 2 days up to and including 14 days old, and the loaded group from 15 days and older. The distal tibia was sawn into parasagittal slabs and the cranial half of the central slab from the intermediate ridge was examined by light microscopy and immunohistochemical staining for collagen type I. Presence, completeness and location of the collagen ring was compared, as was the quantity of perivascular mesenchymal cells. An eosinophilic ring present on HE-stained sections was seen in every single fetus and foal examined, which corresponded to collagen type I in immunostained sections. A higher proportion of cartilage canals were surrounded by an eosinophilic ring in the naïve and adapting groups at 73 and 76%, respectively, compared with the loaded group at 51%. When considering only patent canals, the proportion of canals with an eosinophilic ring was higher in the adapting and loaded than the naïve group of foals. The ring was present around 90 and 81% of patent canals in the deep and middle layers, respectively, compared with 58% in the superficial layer, and the ring was more often complete around deep compared with superficial canals. The ring was absent or partial around chondrifying canals. When an eosinophilic ring was present around patent canals, it was more common for the canal to contain one or more layers of perivascular mesenchymal cells rather than few to no layers. It was also more common for the collagen ring to be more complete around canals that contained many as opposed to few mesenchymal cells. In conclusion, the proportion of cartilage canals that had an eosinophilic ring was similar in all three groups of fetuses and foals, indicating that the presence of the collagen ring was mostly programmed, although some adaptation was evident. The ring was more often present around deep, compared with superficial canals, indicating a role in preparation for ossification. The collagen ring appeared to be produced by perivascular mesenchymal cells.

Project description:PurposeCartilage canal vessels are critical to the normal function of epiphyseal (growth) cartilage and damage to these vessels is demonstrated or suspected in several important developmental orthopaedic diseases. High-resolution, three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of cartilage canals has recently been demonstrated using susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI). In the present study, a quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) approach is evaluated for 3-D visualization of the cartilage canals. It is hypothesized that QSM post-processing improves visualization of the cartilage canals by resolving artifacts present in the standard SWI post-processing while retaining sensitivity to the cartilage canals.MethodsEx vivo distal femoral specimens from 3- and 8-week-old piglets and a 1-month-old human cadaver were scanned at 9.4 T with a 3-D gradient recalled echo sequence suitable for SWI and QSM post-processing. The human specimen and the stifle joint of a live, 3-week-old piglet also were scanned at 7.0 T. Datasets were processed using the standard SWI method and truncated k-space division QSM approach. To compare the post-processing methods, minimum/maximum intensity projections and 3-D reconstructions of the processed datasets were generated and evaluated.ResultsCartilage canals were successfully visualized using both SWI and QSM approaches. The artifactual splitting of the cartilage canals that occurs due to the dipolar phase, which was present in the SWI post-processed data, was eliminated by the QSM approach. Thus, orientation-independent visualization and better localization of the cartilage canals was achieved with the QSM approach. Combination of GRE with a mask based on QSM data further improved visualization.ConclusionsImproved and artifact-free 3-D visualization of the cartilage canals was demonstrated by QSM processing of the data, especially by utilizing susceptibility data as an enhancing mask. Utilizing tissue-inherent contrast, this method allows noninvasive assessment of the vasculature in the epiphyseal cartilage in the developing skeleton and potentially increases the opportunity to diagnose disease of this tissue in the preclinical stages, when treatment likely will have increased efficacy.

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Discontinuities in the endothelium of epiphyseal cartilage canals and relevance to joint disease in foals.

Publications

Discontinuities in the endothelium of epiphyseal cartilage canals and relevance to joint disease in foals.

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