Morphological changes of epiphyseal plate in the long bone of chondrodysplastic dwarfism in Japanese brown cattle.

A total of 20 cases of disproportionate calves on Japanese Brown cattle were examined morphologically. Investigation of 5 affected calves revealed that the insufficiency of endochondral ossification was confined only to the long bones of the limbs and was not accompanied by other associated changes. On the basis of the histological changes of epiphyseal plate and the affected site, this condition may be called chondrodysplasia of the rhizomelic type. Therefore, this disorder was defined as a bovine dwarfism. From three dimensional image analysis and histological changes of the tibial proximal portion in the other 15 cases, deformity and shortness of the tibia were related to the state of distribution and the degree of damages of the epiphyseal plate. In the affected cartilage matrix, cystoid degeneration, fibrous striation, bone spicule, necrotic foci and rent were found. Inadequate metachromasia suggests the abnormal staining of sulfated glycosaminoglycans and alcian blue stainability may be attributable to the abnormal interactions between proteoglycan and other matrix components. At the interface of cartilage and bone, irregular calcification, fibrotic scar and sealing by osseous tissue with relation to vascularity were found. These changes in this study indicated the failure of modeling on the epiphyseal plate, showing disturbance of chondrocytic differentiation and abnormal formation of the matrix.