Abstract
Human tendons affected by diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis — a disease characterized by calcification of tendons and ligaments — have been investigated by low and high angle X-ray diffraction using both conventional and synchroton radiation sources. The results reveal a close relationship between the preferential orientation of the c-axis of the hydroxyapatite crystallites and that of collagen fibres. The orientation of collagen fibres along the tendon axis decreases as the degree of calcification increases. The low angle diffraction analyses show that the mineral component is deposited preferentially along the collagen fibres according to a step function. Calcified collagen exhibits the same axial periodicity ( D=67.0 nm) as native collagen fibres. This periodicity remains unchanged in the dry calcified tissue. The length of the mineral block (0.45 D) does not change with the degree of calcification. The apatite-collagen relationship closely resembles that found in bone tissue.
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