Complete Medical Guide for Disease Volume IX: Connective Tissue

"Connective tissue" is a fibrous and most diverse tissue. It is one of the four traditional classes of tissues (the others being epithelial, muscle and nervous tissue). Connective Tissue (CT) is found throughout the body. In fact the whole framework of the skeleton and the different specialized connective tissues from the crown of the head to the toes determine the form of the body and act as an entity. CT has 3 main components: cells, fibers, and extracellular matrix, all embedded in the body fluids. Fibroblasts are the cells responsible for the production of connective tissue. The interaction of the fibers, the extracellular matrix and the water, together, form the pliable connective tissue as a whole. Connective tissue makes up a variety of physical structures including tendons and the connective framework of fibers in muscles, capsules and ligaments around joints, cartilage, bone, adipose tissue, blood and lymphatic tissue.