Redox studies of the epiphyseal growth cartilage: pyridine nucleotide metabolism and the development of mineralization.

The objective of this investigation was to examine the redox status of chondrocytes in normal and rachitic growth cartilages and to relate energy metabolism to cell maturation and the initiation of mineralization. The redox status was evaluated by chemical analysis and by microfluorimetric scanning of rapidly frozen, freeze-fractured tibial growth cartilages. In the normal epiphysis, the redox pattern of both avian and lagomorph cartilages were very similar. Thus, in the proliferative tissue zone the NAD/NADH ratio was high; in the hypertrophic zone, the cells appeared to be reduced. The sharp border between the two zones suggested that the redox shift may be associated with development of hypoxia. Induction of rickets resulted in a fivefold decrease in the total concentration of pyridine nucleotides in the proliferating and hypertrophic zones. Furthermore, the NAD/NADH ratio was profoundly disturbed. In the mineralizing zone, there was an accumulation of reduced pyridine nucleotide. Healing, initiated by administration of vitamin D to the rachitic birds, caused a rapid increase in NAD and NADH in all zones of the growth cartilage. It was concluded that vitamin D deficiency leads to changes in the energy metabolism of growth cartilage and that these changes were related to the defective mineralization of the rachitic tissue.