The effect of spinal fusion on the collagen and proteoglycans of the canine intervertebral disc.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to T K Taylor.
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A review of 35 cases of inflammatory lesions of the intervertebral discs in young children has failed to establish a role for antibiotics in management. There is a tendency to overinvestigate and overtreat this benign, self-limiting malady, for which a period of six weeks of immobilization in a double hip spica is recommended.
The place of antibiotics in the management of postoperative disc space infections is examined on the basis of a review of 14 cases. Whereas the role of antibiotics is clear in acute infections which manifest themselves in the early postoperative period, this is not so for cases which present late with a chronic process. Here, immobilization in a double hip spica is the single therapeutic measure recommended.
A review of 49 cases of haematogenous osteomyelitis of the spine has indicated the need for planned investigations to establish a bacteriological diagnosis and appropriate antibiotic therapy. The data suggest that antibiotics may not influence the outcome in patients presenting with a chronic infective process, particularly when this is located in the lumbar region.
Aneurysmal bone cysts are uncommon lesions, especially in the spine. Seventy-eight cases have been previously documented in the English literature and an additional fourteen cases are now reported. There is a definite predilection for the lumbar region and the neural arch is the part of the vertebra most commonly affected. It is recommended that treatment should consist of total excision or when this is not possible, curettage. Radiotherapy should be reserved for those few cases where operation is inadvisable.
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An organ culture system is described for adult human articular cartilage obtained from joints after femoral head replacement operations. Cartilage slices maintain maximal viability for 2 days in culture as assessed by uptake of [3H]uridine and [3H]leucine into whole tissue, and 35SO4 into sulphated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Since GAGs are the components of cartilage matrix, the depletion of which is associated with osteoarthrosis, a method for measuring sulphated GAG synthesis in culture has been investigated.
Glycosidases capable of degrading intercellular matrix components were investigated in a 32P induced rat osteosarcoma. Homogenates of ossifying tumour were shown to readily degrade hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulphates 4 and 6 but not dermatan sulphate. High levels of the exoglycosidases, beta-glucuronidase and beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase were found in tumour homogenates, and it was demonstrated that these enzymes contribute to the degradation of high molecular weight hyaluronic acid. The levels of these enzymes were compared with activities found in homogenates of neonatal bone and muscle surrounding tumours. Exoglycosidases, but not hyaluronidase, were found to be produced by cultures of osteosarcoma in vitro.
A case of spontaneous epidural abscess occuring in a pregnant woman is reported. Some delay in diagnosis occurred. Decompression resulted in prompt recovery and improvement of a mild neurological deficit.
The in vitro sulphated glycosaminoglycan metabolism and uronate content of human aged and osteoarthrotic hip articular cartilages have been examined. Cartilages were sampled from nonfibrillated weight-bearing areas and cultured in Dulbecco Modified Eagle's medium with 35SO4. Uptake of 35SO4 was corrected for total sulphate concentration and related to uronate levels after papain digestion and dialysis. The levels of uronate in these tissues varied between 0 - 96% and 2 - 26% dry weight and did not correlate with either osteoarthrotic grading or sulphated glycosaminoglycan metabolism, irrespective of the source. Glycosaminoglycan metabolism of intact hip articular cartilage from clinically defined osteoarthrotics appears, from these results, to be comparable to that derived from nonsymptomatic hip joints from individuals of similar age. Sodium salicylate was found to depress sulphated glycosaminoglycan metabolism in osteoarthrotic cartilage.
The variation with age and spinal level of the glycosaminoglycan distribution in beagle (a chondrodystrophoid breed) intervertebral discs have been assessed by means of histochemical and chemical methods. Chondroitin sulphate is the major glycosaminoglycan of the immature beagle disc, but with ageing, this is partially replaced by keratosulphate. The level of glycosaminoglycans in the nucleus pulposus is markedly less than in the nonchondrodystrophoid breed and by 1 year of age, the beagle nucleus pulposus has become largely fibrocartilagious. This alteration in 'normal' disc developments is possibly associated with the elevated incidence of disc disorders in the chondrodystrophoid breeds.
The variation with age and spinal level of the glycosaminoglycan distribution in the greyhound (a non-chondrodystrophoid breed) intervertebral disc has been assessed by means of histochemical and chemical methods. The principal glycosaminoglycans of the greyhound disc are the chondroitin sulphates. With ageing, there is evidence of a decline in these components and the replacement by keratosulphate. The discs of this breed contain high proportions of sialic acid and hexosamines well into old age which are thought to be associated with non-collagenous proteins (glycoproteins). The maintenance of glycosaminoglycans and glycoprotein levels in the disc nucleus pulposus into old age is possibly associated with the relatively low incidence of disc disorders in the non-chondrodystrophoid breeds.
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Spinal mobility in chondrodystrophoid and nonchondrodystrophoid animal has been studied radiographically. Movement at the lumbo-sacral articulation is approximately three times greater than at other levels in the lumbar spine. The L7-L6 articulation is the second most mobile level. Movement at other lumbar segments is approximately equal. The range of motion is closely similar for both skeletal types which suggests that this factor alone is not of crucial importance in the aetiology of intervertebral disc disorder in chondrodystrophoid animals.
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