RESUMO
BACKGROUND:Micro-fracture surgery method is simple, easy to operate, which is an effective way to treat articular cartilage defects, but there are stil some problems such as regenerated fibrocartilage and regenerated cartilage degradation. Scholars have focused on the use of various methods to improve the micro-fracture effect on repairing cartilage defects. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effects of micro-fracture enhanced by autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells extracellular matrix (aBMSC-dECM) scaffold for treating cartilage defects in minipig models. METHODS:Bone marrow was extracted from the minipigs and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were obtained. aBMSC-dECM membranes were col ected. Cross-linking and freeze-drying technology were used to make the three-dimensional porous aBMSC-dECM scaffold. Ful thickness cartilage defects, 2 mm in depth and 6 mm in diameter, were created on the femoral condyles and trochlea grooves of the two knees of the minipigs. The right knees were treated with micro-fracture as control and the left were treated with micro-fracture enhanced by aBMSC-dECM scaffold. Six months later, histological examination and Wakitani score were used to evaluate the cartilage regeneration, and glycosaminoglycans and DNA contents in the regenerative tissue were determined. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:After 6 months, the tissue treated by micro-fracture enhanced by aBMSC-dECM scaffold got better surface and integrated with the surrounding cartilage. Safranin O and fast green staining and Masson staining showed that the regenerated cartilage of the left knee, with abundant matrix and dense bone trabeculae, was better than that of the right. Wakitani score of the left knee was higher than that of the right. Glycosaminoglycans content of the left knee was much more than that of the right, while the DNA content was lower in the left knee than the right knee. Better results were observed in the left knee undergoing micro-fracture enhanced by aBMSC-dECM scaffold, and improvements in the femoral condyles and trochlea grooves showed no differences.