Histochemistry as a unique approach for investigating normal and osteoarthritic cartilage

In this review article, we describe benefitsand disadvantages of the established histochemicalmethods for studying articular cartilagetissue under normal, pathological andexperimental conditions. We illustrate the currentknowledge on cartilage tissue based onhistological and immunohistochemicalaspects, and in conclusion we provide a shortoverview on the degeneration of cartilage,such as osteoarthritis. Adult articular cartilagehas low capacity to repair itself, and thus evenminor injuries may lead to progressive damageand osteoarthritic joint degeneration, resultingin significant pain and disability.Numerous efforts have been made to implementthe knowledge in the study of cartilage inthe last years, and histochemistry proved to bean especially powerful tool to this aim.