BODY DISTRIBUTION OF CARTILAGE
Cartilage tissue exists in the body in the form of small cartilage pieces of varying sizes and shapes.
Cartilages are not directly supplied by blood vessels, meani ng that blood vessels do not enter cartilage but stay at their periphery. The nutrition of the chondrocytes depends on the diffusion through its extracellular matrix of substances originated from blood vessels situated around cartilage pieces. These blood vessels are present in a layer of dense connective tissue called the perichondrium, which covers most cartilage pieces.
Due to this nutritional mechanism, cartilage pieces tend to be small and thin. Therefore, the distances that nutrients, metabolites, and gases must travel to reach the chondrocytes within the cartilage are short.
The figure shows some examples of location of cartilage tissue in the body:
Cartilages are not directly supplied by blood vessels, meani ng that blood vessels do not enter cartilage but stay at their periphery. The nutrition of the chondrocytes depends on the diffusion through its extracellular matrix of substances originated from blood vessels situated around cartilage pieces. These blood vessels are present in a layer of dense connective tissue called the perichondrium, which covers most cartilage pieces.
Due to this nutritional mechanism, cartilage pieces tend to be small and thin. Therefore, the distances that nutrients, metabolites, and gases must travel to reach the chondrocytes within the cartilage are short.
The figure shows some examples of location of cartilage tissue in the body:
1- Articular surfaces – hyaline cartilage
2- Epiphyseal discs (growth zones of long bones) – hyaline cartilage
3- Auricles of the ear – elastic cartilage
4- Nose – hyaline cartilage
5- Epiglottis – elastic cartilage
6- Larynx – hyaline and elastic cartilage
7- Trachea – hyaline cartilage
8- Extrapulmonary and intrapulmonary bronchi – hyaline cartilage
