What is cartilage?

Cartilage is a flexible type of connective tissue present in different parts of the bodies of both humans and animals.  The joints between bones, rib cage, ear, nose, elbow, knee, ankle, bronchial tubes, and intervertebral discs all have cartilages.  It’s not as hard as bone, although it’s more rigid and less flexible than muscle.  Cartilage is made up of special cells that create a massive extracellular matrix consisting of Type II collagen fibers, among others.  Three classifications of cartilage exist: elastic cartilage, hyaline cartilage, and fibrocartilage — distinguished by variances of these three main components.

Cartilage doesn’t contain blood cells, which make it heal very slowly.  It also grows slower than other connective tissues.

Diseases can also affect the cartilage, particularly those belonging in the group called “chondrodystrophies” that is capable of disturbing its growth.  Common diseases are:

• Osteoarthritis – Thinning occurs on the cartilage covering the bone, specifically around the joints, which eventually wears out that results in reduced motion and pain
• Traumatic rupture detachment – The cartilage around the knee is often damaged, but is partly repairable via knee cartilage replacement therapy
• Achondroplasia – A decrease in the abundance of chondrocytes around the epiphyseal plate of long bones during childhood, causing dwarfism
• Costochondritis – Induces chest pain because of rib cartilage inflammation
• Spinal disc herniation – Uneven compression of an intervertebral disc that leads to herniation, which causes back pain
• Relapsing polychondritis – It destroys some cartilages, especially in the nose and ear region, and cause disfiguration; loss of rigidity in the larynx can cause suffocation that eventually leads to death; cause of the condition may be autoimmune-related
• Cartilage tumors – Can be benign (chondroma) or malignant (chondrosarcoma), and made up of cartilage tissue

Cartilage is very limited when it comes to healing because chondrocytes are in small spaces and can’t migrate to affected areas.  Hyaline cartilages also have no blood supply, which makes depositing a new matrix slow.  Ruptured hyaline cartilage is usually exchanged with fibrocartilage scar tissue.

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