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Biomedical subjects

R Silberberg

Publications and source records attributed to R Silberberg.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Skeletal effects of cholesterol feeding.

The effect of a 4% supplement of cholesterol to a standard diet on knee joints and vertebral columns was investigated in male mice of strain C57B1. The experimental diet was fed from the time of weaning through the 18-month period of observation or from the age of 1 year to the end of the experiment at 18 months of age. The incidence of osteoarthrosis was increased in mice fed cholesterol from the age of 12 months on. The incidence of spondylosis was increased after lifelong feeding as well as after feeding of cholesterol during the second year of life. This increase involved both, spondylosis associated with or uncomplicated by prolapse of intervertebral discs. The incidence of simple disc prolapse was not affected by the experimental diet.

Animals↗

Submicroscopic response of articular chondrocytes to a cholesterol-containing diet.

10 days' to 3 months' consumption of a diet containing 4% cholesterol causes a minor and transitory stimulation of articular chondrocytes of mice. The transitory disturbance is accompanied by a more permanent increase in glycogen, by abnormal deposition of cytoplasmic lipid and by an increase in the fibrillarity of the pericellular matrix. The changes are consistent with the failure of the cholesterol diet to influence the course of osteoarthrosis if fed to mice from an early age through life.

Animals↗

Skeletal growth and development of achondroplastic mice.

Skeletal development of achondroplastic (cn/cn) mice, aged 2 to 7 weeks, was investigated and compared with that of equally old non-achondroplastic sibs. Differences in body weight and dry weight of femora, tibiae, humeri, and unlae, and in the length of tibiae, unlae, and humeri became more marked with advancing age. Of the biochemical assays carried out, only those for sialic acid and hydroxyproline disclosed significant differences between dwarfs and non-dwarfs, all dwarfs having higher levels of hydroxyproline, and most of them having higher sialic acid levels than the non-dwarfs. Histologically, no distinction could be made between growth zones of non-dwarfs, of cn/+, or +/+ genotype. Among the dwarfs, two groups differing as to the severity of the skeletal abnormality could be distinguished. The differences between dwarfs were most marked in the growth zones of tibiae and femora, less conspicuous in those of vertebrae and least pronounced at the chondro-osseous junction of the ribs. The cause or causes of the histologic heterogeneity remain unknown.

Achondroplasia↗

The Morquio syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis IV): Morphologic and biochemical studies.

The Morquio syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis IV) is a lysosomal storage disease characterized clinically by dwarfism, corneal opacities, dental abnormalities, cardiopulmonary complications, normal intelligence, dysostosis multiplex with universal platyspondyly, and excessive urinary excretion of keratosulfate. The purpose of this communication is to report morphologic observations of Morquio skin and cartilage, and biochemical studies of cultured fibroblasts and cartilage-derived cells. Cells of the basal and Malpighian layers of the epidermis contain large single-membrane-bound vacuoles whereas other dermal cells types are normal. Chondrocytes are packed with similar vacuoles. Preliminary studies of mucopolysaccharide (MPS) metabolism of cultured Morquio cartilage-derived cells and fibroblasts reveals excessive intracellular MPS accumulation in cartilage-derived cells but only modest accumulations in fibroblasts. The Morquio syndrome appears to be a cell-type specific MPS storage disorder, and further studies to elucidate the presumed deficiency of lysosomal hydrolase(s) should be directed at tissues displaying both morphologic and metabolic abnormalities.

Adolescent↗