Molecular size of chondroitin sulfate from normal and osteochondrotic joint cartilage of adolescent boars.

Normal and osteochondrotic femurs and humeri were obtained from five normal and 15 lame adolescent boars to study the molecular size of joint cartilage chondroitin sulfate. Histological examination of cartilage showed a locally reduced intensity of safranin-O staining in fractured areas. Sephadex G-200 chromatography of cartilage glycosaminoglycans revealed a reduction (P less than 0.01) in the average hydrodynamic size of chondroitin sulfate in only the separated cartilage from severely damaged medial humeral condyles. Chromatography also suggested an accumulation of fragmented chondroitin sulfate chains in this cartilage. There were no other appreciable differences in the hydrodynamic size of chondroitin sulfate from normal and osteochondrotic joint cartilage.