[The micro- and ultrastructural organization of mineralized cartilage in the human pubic symphysis]. / Mikro- i ul'trastrukturnaia organizatsiia mineralizovannogo khriashcha lobkovogo simfiza cheloveka.

Samples of the pubic symphysis of humans from 18 to 87 years of age were studied at the light- and ultramicroscopic levels. The structural organization of the mineralized cartilage were investigated in mutual relationship with the basophilic line of calcification and the subchondral bone. The front of mineralization of the public symphysis cartilage is formed by calcified capsules of chondrocytes, thick and thin bundles of mineralized collagen fibers, mineral granules in the interterritorial matrix of the cartilage. In humans aged from 20 to 29 years the front of mineralization of the pubic symphysis cartilage is intermittent, by 40-49 years the amount of gaps becomes less, at the age of 70-79 years the front of mineralization becomes intermittent again. In elderly and senile people mineral plates of complex configuration appear in the interterritorial matrix and chondrocyte capsules, by the age of 87 there appear thick highly mineralized bundles of collagen fibers.