Variation of Collagenous and Non-Collagenous Proteins of Human Knee Joint Menisci with Age and Degeneration
- 1 January 1974
- journal article
- Published by S. Karger AG in Gerontology
- Vol. 20 (4) , 212-223
- https://doi.org/10.1159/000212017
Abstract
The chemical composition has been determined in inner, middle and peripheral zones of 50 human knee joint menisci of ages 0–86 years. Of these, 12 showed areas of degeneration which were analysed separately. On a dry weight basis, normal adult tissues contained 77.9 ± 0.4% collagen, 8.1 ± 0.8% non-collagenous proteins (NCP) and 1.0 ± 0.1 % hexosamine. With aging, the level of collagen increases and NCP declines. In degenerate areas, a statistically significant loss in collagen, and rise in NCP and hexosamines was observed, relative to normal menisci of the same age.Keywords
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