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Temporal analysis of rat growth plates: cessation of growth with age despite presence of a physis

Temporal analysis of rat growth plates: cessation of growth with age despite presence of a physis
Temporal analysis of rat growth plates: cessation of growth with age despite presence of a physis
Despite the continued presence of growth plates in aged rats, longitudinal growth no longer occurs. The aims of this study were to understand the reasons for the cessation of growth. We studied the growth plates of femurs and tibiae in Wistar rats aged 62–80 weeks and compared these with the corresponding growth plates from rats aged 2–16 weeks. During skeletal growth, the heights of the plates, especially that of the hypertrophic zone, reflected the rate of bone growth. During the period of decelerating growth, it was the loss of large hydrated chondrocytes that contributed most to the overall decrease in the heights of the growth plates. In the old rats we identified four categories of growth plate morphology that were not present in the growth plates of younger rats: (a) formation of a bone band parallel to the metaphyseal edge of the growth plate, which effectively sealed that edge; (b) extensive areas of acellularity, which were resistant to resorption and/or remodeling; (c) extensive remodeling and bone formation within cellular regions of the growth plate; and (d) direct bone formation by former growth plate chondrocytes. These processes, together with a loss of synchrony across the plate, would prevent further longitudinal expansion of the growth plate despite continued sporadic proliferation of chondrocytes.
bone growth, age, growth plate, histology, acellularity, remodeling, transdifferentiation, rat
0022-1554
373-383
Roach, Helmtrud I.
ca2ff1f4-1ada-4c56-9097-cd27ca4d199e
Mehta, Gautam
152b136a-006e-437c-970c-d6d718f8b8dd
Oreffo, Richard O.C.
ff9fff72-6855-4d0f-bfb2-311d0e8f3778
Clarke, Nicholas M.P.
76688c21-d51e-48fa-a84d-deec66baf8ac
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Roach, Helmtrud I.
ca2ff1f4-1ada-4c56-9097-cd27ca4d199e
Mehta, Gautam
152b136a-006e-437c-970c-d6d718f8b8dd
Oreffo, Richard O.C.
ff9fff72-6855-4d0f-bfb2-311d0e8f3778
Clarke, Nicholas M.P.
76688c21-d51e-48fa-a84d-deec66baf8ac
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6

Roach, Helmtrud I., Mehta, Gautam, Oreffo, Richard O.C., Clarke, Nicholas M.P. and Cooper, Cyrus (2003) Temporal analysis of rat growth plates: cessation of growth with age despite presence of a physis. Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, 51 (3), 373-383.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Despite the continued presence of growth plates in aged rats, longitudinal growth no longer occurs. The aims of this study were to understand the reasons for the cessation of growth. We studied the growth plates of femurs and tibiae in Wistar rats aged 62–80 weeks and compared these with the corresponding growth plates from rats aged 2–16 weeks. During skeletal growth, the heights of the plates, especially that of the hypertrophic zone, reflected the rate of bone growth. During the period of decelerating growth, it was the loss of large hydrated chondrocytes that contributed most to the overall decrease in the heights of the growth plates. In the old rats we identified four categories of growth plate morphology that were not present in the growth plates of younger rats: (a) formation of a bone band parallel to the metaphyseal edge of the growth plate, which effectively sealed that edge; (b) extensive areas of acellularity, which were resistant to resorption and/or remodeling; (c) extensive remodeling and bone formation within cellular regions of the growth plate; and (d) direct bone formation by former growth plate chondrocytes. These processes, together with a loss of synchrony across the plate, would prevent further longitudinal expansion of the growth plate despite continued sporadic proliferation of chondrocytes.

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More information

Published date: March 2003
Keywords: bone growth, age, growth plate, histology, acellularity, remodeling, transdifferentiation, rat

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 25938
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/25938
ISSN: 0022-1554
PURE UUID: d822b06b-7dfd-4121-800e-44ea14f8a2d6
ORCID for Richard O.C. Oreffo: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5995-6726
ORCID for Cyrus Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 21 Apr 2006
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:51

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Contributors

Author: Helmtrud I. Roach
Author: Gautam Mehta
Author: Cyrus Cooper ORCID iD

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