[Pathogenesis of arthrosis deformans of the knee joint]

The authors have studied the biochemical characteristics (type, aminoacid composition, carbohydrate component content) of the collagene proteins in the articular cartilage in normal conditions and in various expression of deforming arthrosis of the knee joint. The results (collagen of the its type formation, disturbances in the aminoacid composition of collagen of the 1st and 2nd types, changes in the carbohydrate component content, accumulation of procollagen of type 2) allowed to suggest that already at the early stages of development of deforming arthrosis there are distortion of synthesis and disturbance in postsynthetic transformations of the collagen proteins of hyaline cartilaginous tissue which lead to disturbances in the structure and in the function of the matrix and progressive degradation of the articular cartilage.