This Article Order Full text via Infotrieve Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lawler, E. M. Articles by Walser, M. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lawler, E. M. Articles by Walser, M. M.

American Journal of Pathology, Vol 120, 276-281, Copyright © 1985 by American Society for Investigative Pathology

REGULAR ARTICLES

Chondroclasts in fusarium-induced tibial dyschondroplasia. A histomorphometric study

EM Lawler, TF Fletcher and MM Walser

The role of chondroclasts in the pathogenesis of Fusarium roseum- induced tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) was examined in a histomorphometric study. TD developed rapidly in broiler chickens placed at 1 day of age on rations containing either 3% (Experiment 1) or 2% (Experiment 2) F roseum cultures. In Experiment 1 the frequency of TD in birds killed at 4 weeks of age was 90%. In Experiment 2, birds were killed at intervals from 4 days until 4 weeks of age. By 1 week of age, 70% of birds examined had characteristic accumulations of prehypertrophic cartilage at the proximal tibial physis, and the frequency of TD in 4-week-old birds was 80%. Sections of hypertrophic cartilage from F roseum-fed and control birds from both experiments were examined for determination of the volume density of chondroclasts along the vascular channel boundary. Chondroclast density was consistently lower in F roseum-fed than in control birds, but the difference was significant only at 4 weeks of age. The fact that gross lesions were evident before a significant decrease in chondroclast density occurred indicates that a decrease in the density of chondroclasts was not an essential factor in the accumulation of cartilage characteristic of TD.