Mature rabbit articular cartilage in the form of distal femoral condyles, composite osteoarticular structures, were incubated in the presence of a-tocopherol (200 pg/ml) over a period of time. Indentation testing and uptake indicate preservation of sustained load carrying capacity and viability, respectively, in the presence of a-tocopherol for up to 30 days in organ culture.Condylar cartilage stored in the absence of a-tocopherol as well as frozen cartilage demonstrated progressive inability to resist sustained loading over time. Nonoptimal synthetic function apparently occurred in these latter two groups when compared to a-tocopherol stored material.The need to replace synovial joints or limbs may arise in several clinical contexts including trauma (l), osteoarthritis (2), or subsequent to resection for malignancy (3,4). The achievements with internal (endo) prostheses as replacements for lost or destroyed cartilage have been only partially successful (1,5). Allotransplantation of joint surfaces as an alternative surgical approach for joint resurfacing has been undertaken in

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Articular cartilage slice explants were stored under various conditions, including freezing-thawing at various rates by using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a cryoprotective agent, incubating in standard tissue culture medium (MEM Eagle:NCTC 13515% fetal calf serum) in 5% CO, and air at 4", 21", and 37"C, and incubating in standard tissue culture medium containing 200 pg/ml a-tocopherol (vitamin E) at 37°C after first ascertaining a dose-response curve of vitamin E. Results indicated that articular cartilage slice explants did not survive freezing or storage at 4" and 21OC as measured by "S uptake. When stored at 37°C in standard tissue culture in 5% CO, and air, the slice explants remained viable for up to 60 days. The addition of a-tocopherol to the medium resulted in significantly less release of previously incorporated in stored cartilage slices and significantly less reduction of the amount of hexosamine present in the stored explants. a-Tocopherol in the m e dium also preserved safranin 0 staining. Thus, the a p plication of tissue culture techniques to the storage of articular cartilage made it possible to preserve cartilage slice explants in a viable, biochemically "normal" state.