[Osteolathyrism. Quantitative-morphological studies on the experimental rat skeletal disease]

In young growing rats, fed the lathyrogenic agent aminoacetonitrile for 3 weeks, characteristic skeletal changes developed resembling the chronic state of osteolathyrism. In both lathyritic and untreated control rats, the femoral head, the distal end of the femur, the proximal tibial end, the thalocalcanean joint and the first lumbar vertebra were investigated using undecalcified thin sections and ground sections. The following methods were employed: quantitative morphometrical analysis of bone structure and bone remodelling of the lumbar vertebra, histochemical demonstration of the composition of polysaccharides, detection of the course of collagenous fibres in cartilage and bone by the polarizing microscope, tetracycline-labelling and fluorescence microscopical determination of epiphyseal longitudinal growth and bone formation activity, photometrical quantification of microradiographies and computer-aided determination of the mineral content of bone.