The Effect of Chitosan-TGF-beta1 Conjugate on Full Thickness Articular Cartilage Defect in the Rabbit Knee Model (Preliminary Report) / 대한정형외과연구학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of the chitosan-TGF-beta1 conjugate on articular cartilage defects of rabbits' knees MATERIALS AND METHODS: Full thickness cartilage defect(6mm, round shape) was made at both knees of 20 rabbits and, after the lapse of 3 days, chitosan-TGF-beta1(15ng/ml, 1ml) was injected into one side(experimental group) of knees and PBS(1ml) was injected into the other side(control group). 5 rabbits were sacrificed 6 weeks after the injection and the rest of 15 rabbits 12 weeks later. Then, gross morphology and histological evaluation(Mendelson scoring) was conducted. RESULTS: No arthritic findings was observed and histological results in the experimental group at 6(Ave. 11.3+/-1.5) and 12(Ave. 4.5+/-1.9) weeks postoperatively were superior to those in the control group at 6(Ave. 14.6+/-1.7) and 12(Ave. 9.8+/-2.2) weeks. Especially at 12 weeks, the experimental group was superior to the control group statistically in results of 5 subgroups except for filling of defects. The difference of two groups at 12 weeks was more remarkable than those at 6 weeks. CONCLUSION: Regeneration of something very close to normal cartilage was observed in the experimental group. It shows that the biological activity of TGF-beta1 is sustained by the action of conjugate with chitosan, through prolonged half life of TGF-beta1.