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Topic:Cartilage
Cartilage in horses is a specialized connective tissue found in joints, providing a smooth, lubricated surface for articulation and facilitating the transmission of loads with low friction. It is composed of chondrocytes embedded within an extracellular matrix rich in collagen fibers, proteoglycans, and water. Cartilage does not contain blood vessels or nerves, relying on diffusion for nutrient delivery and waste removal. This avascularity contributes to its limited capacity for repair and regeneration. Research on equine cartilage focuses on understanding its structure, function, and the biological processes involved in cartilage development, maintenance, and degeneration. Studies also explore the impact of various conditions, such as osteoarthritis, on cartilage integrity and investigate potential therapeutic approaches for cartilage repair and preservation. This page gathers peer-reviewed research and scholarly articles that delve into the biology, pathology, and treatment of cartilage-related conditions in horses.
Biochemical and biomechanical alterations in equine articular cartilage following an experimentally-induced synovitis. The effects of inflammation on the biochemical and biomechanical properties of articular cartilage at two sites (dorsal and palmar) from the radial facet of the equine third carpal bone were examined in response to a synovitis induced with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Four groups were studied. In group 1 synovitis was induced at time zero and evaluated at week 6. Group 2 was the sham-treated control for group 1. In group 3 synovitis was induced at time zero and evaluated at week 2. Group 4 was the sham-treated control for group 3. There was a significant increase (P palmar). The...
Expression of types II, VI and X collagen in equine growth cartilage during development. The synthesis and expression of collagen types II, VI and X were investigated in growth cartilage selected from a group of 31 horses and ponies in the age range 157 days of gestation to 12 years. Collagen isolation, immunolocalisation and in situ hybridisation techniques were used in order to provide information on the pattern of synthesis of these 3 collagens during endochondral ossification in normal horses. Type II collagen immunoreactivity and mRNA expression was found in each of the 3 zones of growth cartilage chondrocytes in all samples studied, whereas the localisation of both collagen ...
Regulation of glycosaminoglycan metabolism by bone morphogenetic protein-2 in equine cartilage explant cultures. To investigate whether recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) regulates glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis and release from equine articular cartilage explant cultures. Methods: Equine articular cartilage explants were maintained in vitro for 7 days in the presence of 0 (control), 1, 10, or 100 ng of rhBMP-2/ml. Synthesis and release of GAG were assessed as measures of production and degradation of the extracellular matrix, respectively. Methods: 6 horses (age range, 2 to 25 years old) without clinically detectable musculoskeletal abnormalities. Methods: Rate of synthesis of G...
Radiographic and arthroscopic findings associated with subchondral lucency of the distal radial carpal bone in 71 horses. Case records and radiographs of 71 horses with subchondral lucency, without radiographic evidence of fracture, located on the distal radial carpal bone were examined retrospectively. All horses had lameness and/or joint effusion referable to the carpus. Distal radial carpal bone subchondral lucency was found as a solitary lesion or as a lesion concurrent and symmetric to a contralateral distal radial carpal bone chip fracture. The lesion appeared radiographically as a lucency or shadow on the distal dorsal margin of the radial carpal bone and was most evident on the flexed lateromedial and dor...
The effects of irradiation dose on the stiffness of cartilage grafts. Various centers report irradiated cartilage graft absorption rates that differ quite widely. We postulated that a major factor governing this phenomenon might be irradiation dose. Irradiation produces collagen cross-binding and increased resistance to absorption of such material when implanted. Since cross-binding produces stiffening of collagen, cartilage grafts were exposed to increasing doses of irradiation and their elastic modulus was measured. The postulate was that increasing radiation doses will produce grafts of increasing stiffness. Sternal cartilage, harvested from horses, was cut i...
Effects of holmium: YAG laser energy on cartilage metabolism, healing, and biochemical properties of lesional and perilesional tissue in a weight-bearing model. Comparison of perilesional cartilage, lesional repair tissue, and subchondral bone activity 6 months after application of holmium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Ho:YAG) laser energy to chronic (10 week) induced 10-mm full-thickness (FT) circular articular cartilage craters followed by 6 months' intermittent active motion (IAM) in a free exercise environment was investigated. The 2.1-microns wavelength was delivered in hand-controlled near-contact mode by arthroscopic surgery in a saline medium. Bilateral arthroscopy was performed on normal antebrachiocarpal, intercarpal, and metacarpophalangeal join...
Transphyseal vessel involvement in repair of metaphyseal retained cartilage. A foal with retained cartilage in the distal metaphysis of the right and left radii and third metacarpal bones had abnormal physeal vasculature. In areas where cartilage was retained, vessels crossed the physis, and branched at the physeal-metaphyseal junction or at the site of retained cartilage. Vessels appeared to be involved in re-initiation of endochondral ossification and in the repair reponse to the presence of retained cartilage. In areas where the physis was radiographically and histologically normal, no vessels crossed the physis. A function of transphyseal vessels may be as a reserv...
The dose-related effects of phenylbutazone and a methylprednisolone acetate formulation (Depo-Medrol) on cultured explants of equine carpal articular cartilage. The dose-related effects of phenylbutazone and Depo-Medrol on chondrocyte viability and chondrocyte-mediated synthesis and depletion of proteoglycans were investigated using cultured explants of equine middle carpal joint articular cartilage. Explants from 12 horses (941 x 3 mm diameter) were cultured for a total of 5 days, which included 3 days' exposure to either phenylbutazone (0, 2, 20, 200 or 2000 micrograms/mL) or Depo-Medrol (0, 20, 200 or 2000 micrograms/mL). For each explant, amino sugar content was used as a measure of proteoglycan content, 35S incorporation as a measure of the rate ...
Histologic appearance of axial osteochondral fragments from the proximoplantar/proximopalmar aspect of the proximal phalanx in horses. Osteochondral fragments from the axial proximoplantar/proximopalmar region of the proximal phalanx were removed from 38 joints in 30 horses. Ninety-three percent of the horses were Standardbreds, and 28 of the 30 had a low-grade lameness. All but 1 of the horses had hind limb involvement. A total of 43 fragments were removed. Most (71%) of the fragments involved the medial aspect of the joint and had to be dissected from a covering of synovial tissue. Histologically, the circumference of most fragments consisted of a transition zone at the attachment of the joint capsule, a region of nonarticu...
Localisation of alkaline phosphatase in equine growth cartilage. The aim of this study was to localise alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in equine growth cartilage both histochemically and ultrastructurally. For histochemical studies, full thickness growth cartilage samples were obtained from 6 anatomical sites from 16 horses and ponies ranging in age from 90 d postconception to 12 years of age. For ultrastructural studies, samples were obtained from the lateral trochlear ridge of the distal femur of 3 animals ranging in age from 157 d postconception to 12 months of age. Alkaline phosphatase in histological sections was localised using a substituted napht...
Complete primary sequence of equine cartilage link protein deduced from complementary DNA. Investigation of the structure of the equine articular cartilage link protein (LP) from individuals ranging in age from 1 to 15 years identified 3 distinct isoforms having molecular weights of 46,000, 43,000 and 41,000. The relative amounts of each of the 3 isoforms altered with age. The largest form did not change with age; however, amounts of the Mr 43,000 and 41,000 forms increased with increasing age. The results suggested that an accumulation, in the extracellular matrix of cartilage, of these 2 smaller products may have arisen from proteolytic cleavage. The complete amino acid sequence o...
Local and remote matrix responses to chondrocyte-laden collagen scaffold implantation in extensive articular cartilage defects. Chondrocyte-laden collagen scaffolds were evaluated in extensive cartilage defects in an equine model. Arthroscopic techniques were used to implant a chondrocyte-collagen culture product in 15-mm defects in the lateral trochlear ridge of the femoropatellar joint of 12 horses. Ungrafted control defects were formed in the opposite joint. Groups of six horses were terminated at 4 and 8 months after implantation and the repair sites, adjacent cartilage, and remote cartilage within each femoropatellar joint examined biochemically. Eight months following surgery the relative proportions of type II c...
Case report: acute joint destabilization in the equine demonstrating early pathology in osteoarthritis. A case of acute destabilization of the right stifle joint associated with rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and avulsion fracture of the tibial spine in a horse is reported. The diagnosis was obtained by scintigraphy and radiography. Post mortem investigations 6 weeks after injury demonstrated fibrillation of surface cartilage in regions unprotected by tibial menisci. No pathological change was demonstrated in the subchondral bone of the tibia in regions associated with loss of cartilage integrity.
Long-term fate and effects of exercise on sternal cartilage autografts used for repair of large osteochondral defects in horses. Bilateral osteochondral defects (10 mm2 x 3 mm deep) were created on the distal articular surface of the radial carpal bone of ten, 2- to 3-year-old horses. One defect of each horse was repaired, using a sternal cartilage autograft (treated), and the other was left untreated (control). The horses were exercised on a high-speed treadmill at incrementally increased speed and duration over the course of 12 months. Horses were evaluated arthroscopically at 6 to 7 weeks, and clinical examinations were conducted weekly at exercise. Twelve months after surgery, carpuses of each horse were radiographe...
Crystals in equine articular cartilage. Crystal deposits have been observed in equine articular cartilage and identified by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction as octacalcium phosphate and calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate. Of 89 equine fetlock joints examined 10 contained evidence of calcification visible by eye. It is suggested that the deposition of crystals may be a mediator of arthritis in horses and may also cause damage directly.
Chondrocyte-fibrin matrix transplants for resurfacing extensive articular cartilage defects. Cartilage resurfacing by chondrocyte implantation, with fibrin used as a vehicle, was examined in large (12 mm) full-thickness articular cartilage defects in horses. Articular chondrocytes, isolated from a 9-day-old foal, were mixed with fibrinogen and injected with thrombin, in a 1:1 mixture, into 12 mm circular defects on the lateral trochlea of the distal femur of eight normal horses. The contralateral femoropatellar (knee) joint served as a control in which the defect was left empty. Synovial fluid from the femoropatellar joints was sampled on days 0, 4, 7, 30, 120, and 240 postoperatively...
Structure of equine type I and type II collagens. Collagen type I was purified from equine skin and flexor tendon, and type II collagen was purified from equine articular cartilage. The proteoglycans in these tissues were extracted, using guanidine HCl; the collagens were solubilized, using pepsin digestion, then were selectively precipitated with NaCl. Gel electrophoresis indicated that the precipitates contained only type I or type II collagen. Amino acid analysis indicated that collagen constituted > 97% of the total protein in the precipitates. Hydroxylation of proline was 42.0 +/- 0.6% (mean +/- SEM) in alpha 1(I) and alpha 2(I), and ...
Phenotype and biological activity of neonatal equine chondrocytes cultured in a three-dimensional fibrin matrix. Equine neonatal chondrocytes were cultured in three-dimensional fibrin matrices under conditions of immediate implantation or implantation following monolayer culture for 6 days, and 3 cell concentrations (1 x 10(5), 1 x 10(6), and 5 x 10(6) chondrocytes/cm3). Equine fibrinogen was collected by cryoprecipitation and polymerized by use of activated bovine thrombin. The fibrin implants were harvested and analyzed histologically and biochemically at 3, 7, and 14 days after the chondrocytes were implanted in fibrin. The differentiation ratio (ratio of rounded, chondrocyte-like cells to stellate, f...
Effect of central or marginal location and post-operative exercise on the healing of osteochondral defects in the equine carpus. The effects of osteochondral defect location and post-operative walking exercise on structural repair and recovery of joint function were examined in the midcarpal joints of ponies. Functional recovery was monitored by measuring ground reaction forces using a force plate. Structural repair was evaluated histologically and by measuring the total collagen and uronic acid content and relative proportions of Type I and II collagen in the repair tissue. Central defects tended to cause a more marked functional disturbance but were repaired with fibrocartilage rather than fibrous tissue in 3 out of 6...
Influence of intra-articular sodium hyaluronate and polysulphated glycosaminoglycans on the biochemical composition of equine articular surface repair tissue. The influence of repeated intra-articular injections of sodium hyaluronate and polysulphated glycosaminoglycan on the repair of full-thickness osteochondral defects was examined in the midcarpal joints of ponies. The study showed no significant difference between treated and control groups with regard to total collagen content, uronic acid content or the relative proportions of Type I and Type II collagen in the repair tissue, indicating that the drugs did not affect the biochemical composition of the repair tissue 11 weeks after defect induction.
Cross-validation of cyanogen bromide-peptide ratios to measure the proportion of type II collagen in pepsin digests of equine articular cartilage, meniscus, and cartilage repair tissue. Collagen type I and type II were purified from equine flexor tendon and articular cartilage, respectively. Equal amounts of these collagens were cleaved with cyanogen bromide, and 11 mixtures containing increasing proportions of type II collagen were separated in seven identical sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The density of bands was measured in wet gels and the peak areas were used to form six ratios of peptide bands that had polynomial relationships with the known proportions of type I and type II collagen in the mixtures. Calibration curves for determining the proportion of typ...
Effects of exercise and polysulfated glycosaminoglycan on repair of articular cartilage defects in the equine carpus. Our aim was to determine if mild to moderate postoperative exercise and intra-articular polysulfated glycosaminoglycan result in improved repair of large, experimentally induced osteochondral defects in a weight-bearing surface of equine joints. Arthroscopic debridement was used to produce full-thickness defects in a weight-bearing area of the radial carpal bones in 18 ponies. The ponies were randomly assigned to two groups balanced for age: nine animals in the exercise and nine in the no exercise group. Six ponies in each group were medicated weekly for 5 weeks with an intra-articular injecti...
Equine cricoid cartilage densitometry. The density of the cricoid cartilage from 29 equine larynges collected from an abattoir was determined by dual photon absorptiometry (DPA). Densities of the right and left cricoid cartilages were highly correlated. No correlation was found between age of the horse and the density of the cricoid cartilage.
Effect of intramuscularly administered polysulfated glycosaminoglycan on articular cartilage from equine joints injected with methylprednisolone acetate. Intra-articularly administered, long-acting corticosteroids are a beneficial treatment for many equine joint disorders because they alleviate inflammation and signs of pain, but they also exert detrimental effects on the biochemical composition and morphologic features of articular cartilage. Chondroprotective drugs have been shown to mitigate some of the deleterious effects of intra-articularly administered corticosteroids on articular cartilage of laboratory animals. Twenty-one ponies were assigned at random to receive 1 of 3 treatments in the right middle carpal joint. Group-1 ponies (n = 8...
Keratan sulfate as a marker of articular cartilage catabolism and joint treatment in ponies. Keratan sulfate (KS) is a glycosaminoglycan, distribution of which is confined mostly to hyaline cartilage. As such, it is a putative marker of hyaline cartilage catabolism. In experiment 1, a focal osteochondral defect was made arthroscopically in 1 radial carpal bone of 2 ponies, and in 2 other ponies, chymopapain was injected into the radiocarpal joint to induce cartilage catabolism. Sequential and concurrent plasma and synovial fluid concentrations of KS were measured, up to 13 months after induction of cartilage injury, to determine whether changes in KS concentrations reflected cartilage...
Effect of polysulfated glycosaminoglycan on osteoarthritic equine articular cartilage in explant culture. Middle carpal cartilage explants from 4 horses with mild osteoarthritis involving that joint were maintained in tissue culture to test the effects of a polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG) on proteoglycan synthesis and degradation. Cultures were exposed to 0.025 or 25 mg of PSGAG/ml for 48 hours, after which the medium was replaced with medium containing similar doses of PSGAG and 35S. Subsequently, the sulfated proteoglycan content of the medium and extracts of the explants was measured. Gel filtration chromatography was used to estimate the size and to purify the principal, large proteogly...
Effects of short-term cast immobilization on equine articular cartilage. Hexosamine concentration (an index of proteoglycan content), DNA content (an index of cellularity), and [35S]sulfate incorporation (an index of proteoglycan synthesis) of articular cartilage were measured in biopsy specimens from medial proximal sesamoid bone, medial condyle of the third metacarpal bone, and proximal dorsal rim of the proximal phalanx in both metacarpophalangeal joints of 6 adult horses. One limb was then placed in a fiberglass cast that extended down from the proximal portion of the metacarpus and enclosed the hoof; the other limb was not casted. After 30 days of stall confin...
Effects of intraarticular corticosteroid and sodium hyaluronate injections on synovial fluid production and synovial fluid content of sodium hyaluronate and proteoglycans in normal equine joints. Hyaluronate and cartilage proteoglycan fragments in synovial fluid from normal equine joints were determined after repeated intraarticular injections of beta-methasone, methylprednisolone, hyaluronate, saline and a combination of beta-methasone + hyaluronate and methylprednisolone + hyaluronate. The experimental intraarticular treatments were given at the beginning of the study and after one and two weeks. Synovial samples were obtained at the onset of the study and after 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 weeks. The synovial volume was determined and showed no significant changes after the repeated arthroc...
Effects of holmium:YAG laser on equine articular cartilage and subchondral bone adjacent to traumatic lesions: a histopathological assessment. This study was performed to investigate the effects of holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Ho:YAG) laser energy on articular cartilage and subchondral bone adjacent to traumatically created cartilage lesions in a continuous weight-bearing model. The 2.1-microns wavelength was delivered efficiently and precisely in hand-controlled contact and near-contact hard tissue arthroscopic surgery in a saline medium. Bilateral arthroscopy was performed on normal antebrachiocarpal and intercarpal joints of four adult horses. One hundred twenty traumatic lesions were created on three weight-bearing articular ...
Isolation, propagation, and cryopreservation of equine articular chondrocytes. Equine articular chondrocytes were isolated from explant cartilage cultures by digestion in a 0.075% collagenase solution for 15 to 19 hours. Cartilage from late-term fetal and neonatal foals resulted in mean chondrocyte yield of 51.99 x 10(6) cells/g of cartilage (wet weight), compared with a yield of 17.83 x 10(6) cells/g for foals 3 to 12 months old. Propagation of chondrocytes in monolayer and 3-dimensional culture was accomplished, using Ham's F-12 as the basal medium, with supplements of fetal bovine serum (10%), ascorbic acid, alpha-ketoglutarate, and L-glutamine. The medium was buffere...
