Some notes on the composition and metabolism of connective tissue

A history of the understanding of cartilage

OBJECTIVE

To review the historic development of the understanding of articular cartilage from the earliest comment in the fourth century BCE until about 2000.

DESIGN

The history up to 1900 is told chronologically, divided into (1) recognition of the tissue, (2) structure, and (3) chemistry. The twentieth century is sketched with a timeline of discoveries that at the time were important and a bibliography of journal review articles.

RESULTS

By 1900 the avascular, aneural state and fibrillar composition have been accepted. The nutrition of articular cartilage remained in dispute. The composition of the binding substance and its relation to collagen remained unknown. Research in the first half of the twentieth century continued to be impeded by lack of technology. The advent of electron microscopy, isotopic tracer technics and enzymology rapidly accelerated the understanding of hyaline cartilage beginning in the 1950s.

CONCLUSIONS

The history of research on hyaline cartilage illustrates the dependence of scientific progress on technologic innovation.

The effects of X-rays on the uptake of radioactive sulphate

Radioactive sulphate was used to determine the effects of X-rays on the uptake of sulphate by the various tissues of the mouse in vivo and by calf costal cartilage in vitro . Sulphate uptake proved uniformly radioresistant. The effects of various protective substances were tested on costal cartilage. Only nitrogen and L-cysteine protected; some enhanced the radiation effect.