抄録
Using biotinylated hyaluronic acid binding protein (HABP), hyaluronic acid (HA) was visualized in the meniscus of the human knee joint. In all histologically normal menisci, positive stainings for HA were observed in the surface of the meniscus, the connective tissue of the joint capsule and the adventitia of blood vessels. A thin layer of HA was concentrated along the surface of the meniscus. However, in the pericellular matrix of the normal meniscus, there was faint positive staining. And in the menisci of infants and patients with osteoarthritis (OA), marked staining was observed in the cytoplasm and territorial matrix of fibrochondrocytes. Therefore, it is suggested that the meniscal fibrochondrocytes have strong HA producing activity in infancy, but this activity decreases with age. Moreover, fibrochondrocytes of the meniscal matrix seem to maintain the potential for HA production until old age and are reactivated to produce HA in cases of OA. In rheumatiod arthritis (RA), HA accumulated in lymphocyte-infiltrating areas but there was lesser accumulation in the fibrotic regions.
