Presence of type III collagen in bone from a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta.

Samples of bone from a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta were found to synthesize and contain type III collagen as well as type I collagen. Normal bone contains only type I collagen except in the lining cells of the bone marrow cavities. In the patient's tissue, type III collagen was localized in nonfibrillar structures in discrete areas of the bone. These and previous studies indicate that certain types of osteogenesis imperfecta may be caused by a failure of normal bone maturation and the sites in which the type III collagen is found appear to be defects in the bone.