Amino acid and glycosaminoglycan composition of epiphyseal cartilage of neonate and osteoporotic lambs.

The epiphyseal plates of neonate and healthy or osteoporotic 60-day-old lambs were analyzed chemically. Uronic acid was higher in 60-day-old healthy lamb than in neonates but galactosamine was higher in neonates than in 60-day-old healthy lambs. Fourteen of the 17 amino acids identified in the epiphyseal cartilage were higher or had a tendency to be higher in 60-day-old healthy lambs than in neonates. Lower levels of uronic acid were noted in 60-day-old osteoportic lambs than in healthy lambs of the same age.