Summary
Thickened ligamenta flava obtained from 14 patients with spinal canal stenosis were examined with special reference to type VI collagen. The characteristic histological finding in the thickened area was rupture of normal elastic fibre meshwork with resultant fibrosis which usually appeared hyaline. Using an immunohistological method, collagen types VI, I and III were found to be present in the hyaline matrix. Ultrastructural study revealed many microfilamentous structures of type VI collagen admixed in loosely packed, banded collagen fibres. With differential salt precipitation of pepsin-extracted collagen the existence of type VI collagen was confirmed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis and Western blotting analysis using anti-type VI collagen antibody. Quantification of type VI collagen in pepsin-extracted crude collagen samples by an inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed an increasing amount of type VI collagen in the thickened ligamenta flava compared to the normal ligaments. Thus, increase of type VI collagen is the main contribution to the thickening of the ligamentum flavum. This may represent an adaptational and reparative process associated with disruption of elastic fibres.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aumailey M, Mann K, Mark H von der, Timple R (1989) Cell attachment properties of collagen type VI and Arg-Gly-Asp dependent binding to its α2(VI) and α3(VI) chains. Exp Cell Res 181:463–474
Biava CG, Dyrda I, Genest J, Bencosme SA (1964) Renal hyalin arteriosclerosis, an electron microscope study. Am J Pathol 44:349–363
Birk DE, Fitch JM, Babiarz JP, Linsenmayer TF (1988) Collagen type I and type V are present in the same fibril in the avian corneal stroma. J Cell Biol 106:999–1008
Drouillard PJ, Mrstik LL (1988) Lumbar spinal stenosis associated with hypertrophied ligamentum flavum and calcium pyrophosphate crystal deposition. J Am Osteopath Assoc 88:1019–1021
Furuto DK, Miller EJ (1980) Isolation of a unique collagenous fraction from limited pepsin digests of human placental tissue. J Biol Chem 255:290–295
Gibson MA, Clearly EG (1982) A collagen-like glycoprotein from elastin rich tissues. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 105:1288–1295
Gibson MA, Clearly EG (1983) Distribution of CL glycoprotein in tissues: an immunohistochemical study. Coll Relat Res 3:469–488
Kajikawa K, Yamaguchi T, Katsuda S, Miwa A (1975) An improved electron stain for elastic fibers using tannic acid. Electron Microsc 24:287–289
Karkavelas G, Kefalides NA, Amenta PS, Martinez-Hernandez A (1988) Comparative ultrastructural localization of collagen types, III, IV, VI and laminin in rat uterus and kidney. J Ultrastruct Mol Struct Res 100:137–155
Kawahara E, Shiroo M, Nakanishi I, Migita S (1989) The role of fibronectin in the development of experimental amyloidosis. Evidence of immunohistochemical codistribution and binding property with serum amyloid protein A. Am J Pathol 134:1305–1314
Kawahara E, Mukai A, Oda Y, Nakanishi I, Iwa T (1990) Left ventriculotomy of the heart: tissue repair and localization of collagen types I, II, III, IV, V, VI and fibronectin. Virchows Arch [A] 417:229–236
Keene DR, Engvall E, Glanville RW (1988) Ultrastructure of type VI collagen in human skin and cartilage suggests an anchoring function for this filamentous network. J Cell Biol 107:1995–2006
Krawczynski K (1971) Immunohistochemical study of arteriolar (simple) hyalinosis in the spleen. Am J Pathol 62:253–264
Kurihara A, Tanaka Y, Tsumura N, Iwasaki Y (1988) Hyperostotic lumbar spinal stenosis: a review of 12 surgically treated cases with roentgenographic survey of ossification of the yellow ligament at the lumbar spine. Spine 13:1308–1316
Mark H von der, Aumaily M, Wick G, Fleishmayer R, Timple R (1984) Immunochemistry, genuine size and tissue localization of collagen type VI. Eur J Biochem 142:439–502
Mensor MC, Fender FA (1941) The ligamentum flavum. Its relationship to low back pain. Surg Gynecol Obstet 73:821–827
Minamoto T, Ooi A, Okada Y, Mai M, Nagai Y, Nakanishi I (1988) Desmoplastic reaction of gastric carcinoma: a light and electron microscopic immunohistochemical analysis using collagen type-specific antibodies. Hum Pathol 19:812–821
Naffziger HC, Inman V, Saunders JBCM (1938) Lesions of the intervertebral disc and ligamentum flava. Surg Gynecol Obstet 66:287–299
Oda Y, Kawahara E, Minamoto T, Ueda Y, Ikeda K, Nagai Y, Nakanishi I (1988) Immunohistochemical studies on the tissue localization of collagen types I, III, IV and VI in schwannoma. Correlation with ultrastructural features of the extracellular matrix. Virchows Arch [B] 56:153–163
Rennard SI, Berg R, Martin GR, Foidart JM, Robey PG (1980) Enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) for connective tissue components. Anal Biochem 104:205–214
Robbins SL, Cotran RS, Kumar V (1984) Hyaline change. In: Pathologic basis of disease, 3rd edn. Saunders, Philadelphia, p 36
Rodermund OE, Klingmüller G (1970) Elektronmikroskopische Befunde des Hyalins bei Hyalinosis cutis et mucosae. Gleichzeitig ein Beitrag zur Frage der Entstehung des Hyalins. Arch Klin Exp Dermatol 236:238–249
Sakai LY, Keene DR, Engvall E (1986) Fibrillin, a new 350-kD glycoprotein, is a component of extracellular microfibrils. J Cell Biol 103:2499
Stolpmann H (1967) Elektronmikroskopische Untersuchung des Hyalins der Pleura und Milzkapsel. Frankf Z Pathol 77:213–221
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kawahara, E., Oda, Y., Katsuda, S. et al. Microfilamentous type VI collagen in the hyalinized stroma of the hypertrophied ligamentum flavum. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 419, 373–380 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01605070
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01605070