[Histoenzymatic characteristics of the articular cartilage in ontogeny and in osteoarthrosis deformans].

Enzymo-histochemical study of the human joint cartilage in ontogenesis showed a high 5-nucleotidase activity at all stages of human development. Alkaline phosphatase was detectable only in the zones of enchondral ossification of the joint cartilage and in the ossification "nuclei", while in adults only in the chondrocytes over the ossification line. Osteocytes of the subchondral bone contain neither 5-nucleotidase nor alkaline phosphatase, the latter being detected in the endosteal cells only. The damage of the joint cartilage in the osteoarthrosis results in the redistribution of the osteo- and chondrogenesis enzymes with their localization in the zones of the regenerative reconstruction of the subchondral bone tissue.