ABSTRACT
Collagen is the major constituent of the organic matrix of bone tissue. Collagen fibers exhibit different microscopic arrangements in different bones, ages, and species. Considering histochemical findings, it is thought that woven and lamellar bone matrix have different compositions, example, the woven bone matrix can be stained more strongly with cationic dyes than can the lamellar bone matrix. The matrix of lamellar bone is a highly organized system. In this type of bone tissue collagen fibers form layers. The collagen fibers run in approximately in the same direction within one concentric layer of the osteon, but the orientation axis of the fibers generally differs by about 90° in adjacent lamellae in the most common type of osteons. Quantitative polarization microscopic investigations were carried out to study the degree of orientation of the chondroitin sulfate molecules in the osteocyte capsules. Polarization microscopy has been used to try to identify the spatial orientation pattern of glycosarninoglycan in the bone matrix.
