The effect of synovial tissue on the breakdown of articular cartilage in organ culture

Abstract

Living (pig) cartilage in contact with synovium lost both proteoglycan and collagen and sometimes became reduced to a mass of fibroblast-like chondrocytes without matrix; dead cartilage lost proteoglycan but less collagen. Similar changes appeared in living cartilage grown at a distance from the synovium but in the same dish; dead cartilage was unaffected.

Conclusion: the synovium has a) a direct, presumably enzymatic action on cartilage matrix and b) an indirect effect mediated through the chondrocytes.