Summary
The presence of a secondary cartilage in the mental symphyseal region was examined in this study. A double-staining method -with alcian blue and alizarin red S -was performed on both whole human embryos and fetuses (developmental age between 8 and 17 weeks, crown-rump length, CRL, between 37 and 124 mm) and their disjointed mandibles. Histological and histochemical techniques were applied to transverse serial sections of whole disjointed fetal heads. The ossification process observed in the mental symphysis is quite different from that of the mandibular body, whose membranous ossification is induced by the contiguous Meckel's cartilage. No evidence of any fusion of Meckel's cartilage with the symphyseal cartilage, that lies within the symphyseal space, was detected. On the basis of these findings, we suggested that the mental secondary cartilage is able to change into bone according to an endochondral ossification process. Moreover, the role of mechanical causes in the development of the mental symphysis was hypothesized.
Résumé
La présence d'un cartilage secondaire dans la région de la symphyse mentonnière a été étudiée dans ce travail. Une double coloration (avec le bleu alcian et le rouge alizarine S) a été réalisée sur 32 embryons et foetus humains (âgés de 8 à 17 semaines, longueur crâniocaudale- CRL - entre 37 et 124 mm) et sur leurs mandibules désarticulées. Les techniques histologiques et histochimiques ont été appliquées aux coupes sériées transversales de toutes les têtes foetales désarticulées. Le processus d'ossification observé au niveau de la symphyse mentonnière est tout à fait différent de celui du corps de la mandibule dont l'ossification membraneuse est induite par le cartilage de Meckel contigu. Nous n'avons détecté aucun signe de fusion du cartilage de Meckel avec le cartilage symphysaire qui se trouve dans l'espace symphysaire. Sur la base de nos constatations, nous suggérons que le cartilage secondaire mentonnier est capable de se transformer en os selon un processus d'ossification enchondrale. De plus le rôle des facteurs mécaniques dans le développement de la symphyse mentonnière est suggéré.
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Bareggi, R., Narducci, P., Grill, V. et al. On the presence of a secondary cartilage in the mental symphyseal region of human embryos and fetuses. Surg Radiol Anat 16, 379–384 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01627657
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01627657