Repair of articular cartilage defects with tissue-engineered cartilaginous grafts in rabbits / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective　To observe the effect of repairing the articular cartilage defects with tissue-engineered cartilaginous grafts in rabbits. 　Methods　 A total of 60 rabbits were divided into the cartilage graft group, the pure carrier control group and the blank control group. In the cartilage graft group, the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) of the rabbits were obtained by isolating and culturing the bone marrow aspirates in vitro. The culture system that facilitates the chondrogenous differentiation of MSCs in rabbits was established. The tissue engineering cartilaginous graft was composed of chondrogenetic MSCs, bovine type Ⅰ collagen and human fibrin. Then transplantations of the cartilaginous grafts were performed to repair articular cartilage defects in rabbits. 　Results　Hyaloid cartilage was formed within the defects repaired with the grafts at 12 weeks after transplantation by analyzing the content of type Ⅱ collagen and metachromatism. In the control groups, the fibrous cartilage repair was observed first, then the fibrous tissues and bone repairs were found. 　Conclusions　 The cartilaginous graft through tissue engineering is a promising graft for repairing articular cartilage defects.