Nucleic Acids in Human Normal and Osteoarthritic Articular Cartilage

Abstract

During operations on joints of patients with osteoarthritis, specimens of severely degenerated cartilage of the femoral head were removed and cartilage from knee joints taken at meniscectomy was used as control material. DNA and RNA concentrations were reduced in advanced osteoarthritis, while the synthesis of DNA and RNA was increased in relation to the number of cells in the tissue. The result showed that in advanced osteoarthritis the remaining chondrocytes are metabolically very active.