Histochemistry of synovium in experimental haemarthrosis in the rabbit.

In a recent publication on experimental haemarthrosis in the rabbit we described many interesting ultrastructural changes that occur in the synovial membrane (Roy and Ghadially, 1966). Two such changes attracted our attention: an increase in the number of intermediate and Type B synovial cells, and the occurrence of many small and large vesicles containing fiocculent and granular material. However, the nature and significance of these changes can not be interpreted adequately on ultramicroscopic changes alone. It seemed to us that a histochemical investigation designed to study the variation in the RNA and mucopolysaccharide content of the synovium during the experimental period would assist in determining more precisely the significance of these changes. Such an investigation has now been carried out and the results are reported in this paper.