Changes in the Vertebral Column of Aging Mice

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Abstract
Aging changes in lower thoracic and in lumbar vertebrae of 163 male or female mice of strains C57Bl or DBA were investigated. In the vertebral growth zones, aging took a course similar to that found in other growth zones. Histochemically the aging cartilage plate contained increasing amounts of a substance, staining positively with alcian blue/0.9 M MgCl2 and thus possibly identical with keratan sulfate. The articular cartilage remained free of this material throughout the period of observation, and in the intervertebral discs it did not appear until the third year of life. Three grades of aging changes were found in the aging discs: fibrosis and hyalinization, chondrification and degeneration with prolapse. Osteoarthrosis was uncommon, but occurred with or without simultaneous prolapse of the disc. Genetic influences on the course of these lesions were not clear-cut in the two strains investigated, and the effect of sex was slight, prolapse of the disc being more common in females than in males.

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