Growth of the nasal septal cartilage of the rat in vitro.

The nasal septal cartilage from 4 days old rats was cultured in a serum-free chemically defined medium for 10 days to establish the intrinsic capacity for growth. Moreover, to obtain an indication of the separating potential, the maximal pressure generated by this growth was determined in a specially designed in vitro pressure registration system. The results show that, though to a lesser extent in comparison with the same period in vivo, the nasal septal cartilage increased considerably in size while the shape was preserved. The greatest force was generated by the longitudinally growing rod-like base of the nasal septal cartilage; the smallest force was generated by growth in height. The in vitro growth behaviour and growth pressure characteristics of the nasal septal cartilage corresponded with those previously found for epiphyseal cartilage. The present results suggest a prominent role for the nasal septal cartilage in midfacial outgrowth in the rat.