Destruction of Articular Cartilage in Septic Arthritis

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Abstract
The effect of staphylococcal pus and various proteolytic enzymes on the structural integrity of articular cartilage was studied in vitro. Removal of the collagen content was necessary for visible gross destruction of cartilage. With the exception of collagenase, proteolytic destruction occurred only after thermal denaturation of the cartilage collagen. Physiological temperatures did not result in a significant degree of thermal denaturation of collagen. The same proteolytic enzymes remove chondro-mucoprotein from cartilage matrix but no visible effect on its structural integrity. Gross cartilage destruction in septic arthritis is not due to the action of leukocytic enzymes or plasmin on cartilage matrix alone. The removal of collagen by enzymatic or mechanical means is necessary for cartilage destruction; but the exact nature of this process is not known.

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