The structure and function of entheses and entheses organs.

Shaw, Hannah Margaret 2007. The structure and function of entheses and entheses organs. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.

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Abstract

This thesis deals with the structure and innervation of 3 different types of attachments - the fibrous enthesis of the medial collateral ligament, the muscular attachment of the tibialis anterior onto the tibia, and the fibrocartilaginous enthesis organ of the Achilles tendon.&nbsp;Particular attention was paid to the latter and it was shown that in rats at all ages (neonate, 4 week, 4 month, and 2 month) only the retromalleolar fat pad of the enthesis organ was innervated.&nbsp;In the light of these findings, the fat was studied in further detail and an <italic>in vitro</italic> investigation determined whether nerve fibres are specifically attracted to the adipose tissue.&nbsp;In man, it was confirmed that the equivalent fat pad (Kager's fat pad) was also innervated and a number of anatomical and histopathological observations associated with this tissue in elderly dissecting room cadavers were described.&nbsp; The relationship between weight, height and foot length with fat pad structure in human cadaveric tissue was investigated, and the effect of the appetite-inducing hormone, ghrelin on the size of the fat pad in the rat was also explored. As entheses are the primary target organs in the seronegative spondyloarthropathies (autoinflammatory rheumatic conditions), the presence of resident and inflammatory macrophages and neutrophils in the rat Achilles tendon enthesis organ was investigated at a variety of ages.&nbsp;Overall, it was concluded that adipose tissue associated with entheses may play a role in proprioception and be a source of pain in enthesopathies.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Biosciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	04 Jun 2017 05:50
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/54094

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