EFFECT OF HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE ON MORPHOLOGICAL AND ULTRASTRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF NORMAL AND OSTEOARTHRITIC HUMAN ARTICULAR CHONDROCYTES

Abstract

Articular cartilage is a connective tissue routinely subjected to high and varying loads. Under physiological conditions articular cartilage is subject to cycles of loading which control the matrix through the metabolic activity of chondrocytes. These loads alter the extracellular physical environment of the chondrocyte in a complex manner (1-3). [...]