Repair of Osteochondral Defects in Rabbit Knee Using Menstrual Blood Stem Cells Encapsulated in Fibrin Glue: A Good Stem Cell Candidate for the Treatment of Osteochondral Defects

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In recent years, researchers discovered that menstrual blood-derived stem cells (MenSCs) have the potential to differentiate into a wide range of tissues including the chondrogenic lineage. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of MenSCs encapsulated in fibrin glue (FG) on healing of osteochondral defect in rabbit model. METHODS: We examined the effectiveness of MenSCs encapsulated in FG in comparison with FG alone in the repair of osteochondral defect (OCD) lesions of rabbit knees after 12 and 24 weeks. RESULTS: Macroscopical evaluation revealed that the effectiveness of MenSCs incorporation with FG is much higher than FG alone in repair of OCD defects. Indeed, histopathological evaluation of FG + MenSCs group at 12 weeks post-transplantation demonstrated that defects were filled with hyaline cartilage-like tissue with proper integration, high content of glycosaminoglycan and the existence of collagen fibers especially collagen type II, as well as by passing time (24 weeks post-transplantation), the most regenerated tissue in FG + MenSCs group was similar to hyaline cartilage with relatively good infill and integration. As the same with the result of 12 weeks post-implantation, the total point of microscopical examination in FG + MenSCs group was higher than other experimental groups, however, no significant difference was detected between groups at 24 weeks (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: In summary, MenSCs as unique stem cell population, is suitable for in vivo repair of OCD defects and promising for the future clinical application.