Femur and tibia.

Femur (F) and tibia (T). Picture taken from a young rat.

For routine histological examination of bone (and bone marrow), the distal portion of one femur with the knee joint and proximal portion of the adjacent tibia are removed at necropsy, fixed and decalcified. A longitudinal section is then made through femur, knee joint and tibia, possibly including patella and/or menisci. Both long bones should be cut at similar length with inclusion of parts of their diaphyses. The section should be slightly lateral to the center of the joint to ensure that articular cartilage is present rather than ligaments. The use of large sections of bone with the joint has the advantage of maintaining anatomic integrity and allows separation of systemic pathologic conditions from reactive processes. With the proposed technique, the epiphyses, metaphyses, growth plates and articular cartilages of femur and tibia are also sectioned allowing assessment of growth, modeling, and remodeling parameters.

In old rats, the femur contains a high proportion of fat marrow.

See also:
      Bone marrow
      Introduction

Woodard JC, Burkhardt JE, Lee W (2002) Bones and joints. In: Haschek WM, Rousseaux CG, Wallig MA (eds) Handbook of toxicologic pathology, 2nd edition, Vol 2. Academic Press, San Diego New York Boston, pp 457–508

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Reference: Morawietz G, Ruehl-Fehlert C, Kittel B, et al. (2004) Revised guides for organ sampling and trimming in rats and mice – Part 3. A joint publication of the RITA and NACAD groups. Exp Toxic Pathol 55: 433–449