Skip to main content
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1984 Aug;43(4):635–640. doi: 10.1136/ard.43.4.635

Chemical changes of human knee joint menisci in various stages of degeneration.

J Herwig, E Egner, E Buddecke
PMCID: PMC1001426  PMID: 6548109

Abstract

Human knee joint menisci graded according to degenerative alterations were submitted to chemical analysis. Normal menisci contained 72% water, 0.12% DNA, 22% collagen, and 0.8% total glycosaminoglycans with the following glycosaminoglycan distribution pattern: 40% chondroitin 6-sulphate, 10-20% chondroitin 4-sulphate, 20-30% dermatan sulphate, and 15% keratan sulphate. The water content increased with increasing degeneration, whereas the collagen and glycosaminoglycan contents decreased with relative increase of chondroitin 6-sulphate.

Full text

PDF
635

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adams M. E., Billingham M. E., Muir H. The glycosaminoglycans in menisci in experimental and natural osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 1983 Jan;26(1):69–76. doi: 10.1002/art.1780260111. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Adams M. E., Muir H. The glycosaminoglycans of canine menisci. Biochem J. 1981 Aug 1;197(2):385–389. doi: 10.1042/bj1970385. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BURTON K. A study of the conditions and mechanism of the diphenylamine reaction for the colorimetric estimation of deoxyribonucleic acid. Biochem J. 1956 Feb;62(2):315–323. doi: 10.1042/bj0620315. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Beckmann J., Rodegerdts U., Buddecke E. 14C-glucose and 35S-metabolism of pig epiphysial cartilage and its variations after osteotomy. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1975 Nov;57(4):506–510. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. DITTMANN G., CREMER H. D. Chondroitinschwefelsäure in Knorpel, Knochen und Zähnen. Biochem Z. 1956;327(5):368–376. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Egner E. Knee joint meniscal degeneration as it relates to tissue fiber structure and mechanical resistance. Pathol Res Pract. 1982;173(3):310–324. doi: 10.1016/S0344-0338(82)80093-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Eyre D. R., Muir H. The distribution of different molecular species of collagen in fibrous, elastic and hyaline cartilages of the pig. Biochem J. 1975 Dec;151(3):595–602. doi: 10.1042/bj1510595. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Habuchi H., Yamagata T., Iwata H., Suzuki S. The occurrence of a wide variety of dermatan sulfate-chondroitin sulfate copolymers in fibrous cartilage. J Biol Chem. 1973 Sep 10;248(17):6019–6028. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Handley C. J., Phelps C. F. The biosynthesis in vitro of chondroitin sulphate in neonatal rat epiphysial cartilage. Biochem J. 1972 Jan;126(2):417–432. doi: 10.1042/bj1260417. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Humbel R., Chamoles N. A. Sequential thin layer chromatography of urinary acidic glycosaminglycans. Clin Chim Acta. 1972 Aug;40(1):290–293. doi: 10.1016/0009-8981(72)90287-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Karube S., Shoji H., Burkes B., D'Ambrosia R. D., Chuinard R. G., Saer J. K. Glycosaminoglycans in human menisci. Surg Forum. 1979;30:485–486. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kresse H., Buddecke E. Makromolekulare Polysaccharid-Proteine. 3. Stoffwechselheterogenität von Chondroitin-4-sulfat-Proteinen und Kollagenstoffwechsel in Rindernasenknorpel. Hoppe Seylers Z Physiol Chem. 1968 Nov;349(11):1497–1506. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. McNicol D., Roughley P. J. Extraction and characterization of proteoglycan from human meniscus. Biochem J. 1980 Mar 1;185(3):705–713. doi: 10.1042/bj1850705. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Nimni M., Deshmukh K. Differences in collagen metabolism between normal and osteoarthritic human articular cartilage. Science. 1973 Aug 24;181(4101):751–752. doi: 10.1126/science.181.4101.751. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Roughley P. J., McNicol D., Santer V., Buckwalter J. The presence of a cartilage-like proteoglycan in the adult human meniscus. Biochem J. 1981 Jul 1;197(1):77–83. doi: 10.1042/bj1970077. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Saito H., Yamagata T., Suzuki S. Enzymatic methods for the determination of small quantities of isomeric chondroitin sulfates. J Biol Chem. 1968 Apr 10;243(7):1536–1542. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Stanescu V., Maroteaux P., Sobczak E. Proteoglycan populations of baboon (Papio papio) cartilages from different anatomical sites: gel electrophoretic analysis of dissociated proteoglycans and of fractions obtained by density gradient centrifugation. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1980 May 7;629(2):371–381. doi: 10.1016/0304-4165(80)90109-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. von Figura K., Kiowski W., Buddecke E. Differently labelled glucosamine-precursor pools for the biosynthesis of hyaluronate and heparan sulfate. Eur J Biochem. 1973 Dec 3;40(1):89–94. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1973.tb03171.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES