Cell production of different growth plates in the rabbit.

In different growth regions of the long bones of normal rabbits the cell production in the growth plates were calculated from values of longitudinal bone growth determined with oxytetracycline and values of the degenerative cell size. The cell production was found to decrease similarly with increasing age for all growth regions. The rate of cell production for the various growth plates differed. There was little influence by age or localization on the size of the degenerative cells in the growth plate. Compared to other species such as rat and man the cell size in the rabbit is almost the same, whereas the difference in growth rate depends mainly on the cell production - mitotic activity - in the growth plate.