[Reproductive kinetics of differentiating chondrocytes in normal states and in exposure to lead acetate]

Parameters of the mitotic cycle of chondrocytes in the skeletal extremities of the rat foetuses were estimated in various experiments with 3H-thymidine. Lead acetate entering the organism during the gestation period influenced the mitotic cycle duration, increasing it at the expense of a presynthetic phase. A change in the proliferation rates delayed the bones' growth and affected the morphological structure of the forming epiphyseal cartilage.