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Connective tissue is any type of biological tissue with an extensive extracellular matrix and often serves to support, bind together, and protect organs. There are four basic types:
Disorders of connective tissue
Various connective tissue conditions have been described, these can be both inherited and environmental.
- Marfan syndrome - a genetic disease causing abnormal fibrillin.
- Scurvy - caused by a dietary deficiency in vitamin C, leading to abnormal collagen.
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome - a genetic disease causing progressive deterioration of collagens, with different EDS types affecting different sites in the body, such as joints, heart valves, organ walls, arterial walls, etc.
- Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) - caused by insufficient production of good quality collagen to produce healthy, strong bones.
See aalso: zootomy
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