Rabbit Articular Cartilage Defects Treated With Autologous Cultured Chondrocytes (original) (raw)
Related papers
Transplantation of chondrocytes seeded on collagen-based scaffold in cartilage defects in rabbits
Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 2005
Recent success in tissue engineering by restoring cartilage defects by transplanting autologous chondrocyte cells on a three-dimensional scaffold has prompted the improvement of this therapeutic strategy. Here we describe a new approach investigating the healing of rabbit cartilage by means of autologous chondrocytes seeded on a biomaterial made of an equine collagen type I-based scaffold. Full-thickness defects were created bilaterally in the weight-bearing surface of the medial femoral condyle of both femora of New Zealand male rabbits. The wounds were then repaired by using both chondrocytes seeded on the biomaterial and biomaterial alone. Controls were similarly treated but received either no treatment or implants of the delivery substance. Histological examination of the reconstructed tissues at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after transplantation showed that at 1 and 3 months there was no formation of reconstructed tissue in any of the groups evaluated; after 6 months there was evidence of a newly regenerated tissue with some fibrocartilaginous features only in the group treated with biomaterial-seeded cells, and at 12 months a more organized tissue was evident in the same group. With regards to the group transplanted with biomaterial alone and the untreated control group, there was no evidence of new tissue production. These results advocate the use of this collagenbased scaffold for further in vivo studies on large size animals and, finally, in human clinical trials for the treatment of knee cartilage defects.
Repair of porcine articular cartilage defect with autologous chondrocyte transplantation
Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 2005
Articular cartilage is known to have poor healing capacity after injury. Autologous chondral grafting remains the mainstay to treat well-defined, full-thickness, symptomatic cartilage defects. We demonstrated the utilization of gelatin microbeads to deliver autologous chondrocytes for in vivo cartilage generation. Chondrocytes were harvested from the left forelimbs of 12 Lee-Sung pigs. The cells were expanded in monolayer culture and then seeded onto gelatin microbeads or left in monolayer. Shortly before implantation, the cell-laden beads were mixed with collagen type I gel, while the cells in monolayer culture were collected and re-suspended in culture medium. Full-thickness cartilage defects were surgically created in the weight-bearing surface of the femoral condyles of both knees, covered by periosteal patches taken from proximal tibia, and sealed with a porcine fibrin glue. In total, 48 condyles were equally allotted to experimental, control, and null groups that were filled beneath the patch with chondrocyte-laden beads in gel, chondrocytes in plain medium solution, or nothing, respectively. The repair was examined 6 months post-surgery on the basis of macroscopic appearance, histological scores based on the International Cartilage Repair Society Scale, and the proportion of characteristic chondrocytes. Tensile stress-relaxation behavior was determined from uniaxial indentation tests. The experimental group scored higher than the control group in the categories of matrix nature, cell distribution pattern, and absence of mineralization, with similar surface smoothness. Both the experimental and control groups were superior to the null group in the above-mentioned categories. Viable cell populations were equal in all groups, but the proportion of characteristic chondrocytes was highest in the experimental group. Matrix stiffness was ranked as null > native cartilage > control > experimental group. Transplanted autologous chondrocytes survive and could yield hyaline-like cartilage. The application of beads and gel for transplantation helped to retain the transferred cells in situ and maintain a better chondrocyte phenotype.
Role of autologous chondrocyte transplantation in articular cartilage defects: An experimental study
Indian Journal of Orthopaedics, 2013
Introduction: Injuries of articular cartilage (AC) have very limited potential to heal, because they are avascular and this may subsequently lead to secondary arthrosis. Autologous cultured chondrocytes transplantation is can be used to create hyaline or hyaline-like repair in a cartilage defect area. The purpose of this study was to repair artificially created full-thickness AC defects in 20 rabbit knee joints with autologous cultured chondrocytes. Materials and Methods: An AC defect of 3 mm was created on the lateral condyle of both tibiae. The defect was filled with autologous chondrocytes cultured in vitro and fixed with fibrin, at a later stage on the left side. The right knee acted as a control. The rabbits were sacrificed after 3, 6, and 12 weeks of transplantation and the reparative tissues were analyzed macroscopically and histologically. Results: Histological scores of the cultured autologous chondrocyte transplanted knees were significantly better than the control knees at 3, 6, and 12 weeks following the transplantation. Integration of repaired tissue with adjacent cartilage, hyaline characteristics of repaired tissue, maturity of cartilage, and cellularity increases with duration and is significant in chondrocytes-transplanted defects compared to control. The histological scores also become better with increasing duration of followup. Conclusion: Transplantation of autologous chondrocytes cultured in vitro and fixed with fibrin is effective in repairing AC defects.
Transplantation Proceedings, 2006
Background. Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) has been shown to heal cartilage defects under experimental and clinical conditions. However, the evaluation of successful transplantation still remains arbitrary and further research is required to establish objective criteria of treatment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the criteria of successful ACT and to compare the results with those obtained following periosteal grafting (PG). Materials and Methods. Articular cartilage specimens were taken from the distal femur of 30 adolescent New Zealand rabbits and chondrocytes were obtained by collagenase digestion. The chondrocytes were identified by a functional assay, based on estimating procollagen type II mRNA by reverse-transcribed polymerase chain reaction. The cells cultured in vitro were transplanted under a periosteal flap into a full thickness defect (ICRS III 0). The quality of the repaired tissue was evaluated macroscopically according to a modified scale of Brittberg et al, and microscopically according to O'Driscoll et al. For comparative purposes animals treated with PG were used. Results. Cultured chondrocytes expressed procollagen type II and, upon transplantation into the defect, produced hyaline cartilage. To evaluate the results of transplantation, two categories of criteria were adopted-macroscopic analysis and microscopic examination. By all adopted criteria the results were significantly better in the ACT group (P Ͻ .05) than in the PG group. Conclusion. Prior to transplantation, assays for specialized functions of chondrocytes required semiquantitative evaluation of macroscopic and microscopic appearance of the repaired tissue, showing the benefit of autologous chondrocyte versus periosteal graft transplantation. M ODERN THERAPEUTIC METHODS including tissue engineering techniques have been used to treat mechanical damage to articular cartilage. Among a number of methods, recently developed autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) seems promising. In this procedure, chondrocytes isolated from a cartilage fragment, taken from a non-weight-bearing part of the joint cultured in vitro, are subsequently transplanted into the damaged area. Several studies 1-4 have revealed that these cells are capable of producing in vivo an extracellular matrix of chemical composition and biomechanical properties similar to those of normal hyaline cartilage. The first application of this method by Brittberg et al 5 demonstrated that human chondrocytes, cultured in vitro and subsequently transplanted into a damaged area, retained their biological properties and were capable of reproducing hyalinelike articular cartilage. Transplantation of chondrocytes into
2008
PURPOSE:To compare the efficacy of autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) versus non-operative measures for cartilage repair in rabbits. METHODS:Nine New Zealand white rabbits were used. Identical focal defects were created in the articular cartilage of both knees. One month later, the right knee was repaired via ACT, while the left knee was left untreated (control group). The quality of cartilage tissues in both knees was compared 3 months later, according to the quantitative analysis of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) in the cartilage and macroscopic examination of histology using the Brittberg/International Cartilage Research Society (ICRS) score. RESULTS:Microscopic examination showed enhanced regeneration following ACT repair. Quantification analysis revealed significantly higher cellular expression of GAG in the ACT-treated knees (1.12 vs 0.81 microgram GAGs/mg protein, p=0.008). The mean Brittberg/ICRS score was significantly higher in the treated knees (6.00 vs 1.89, p=0.007). CONCLUSION: ACT is superior to non-operative measures for repairing focal cartilage defects, as determined by favourable histological and immunohistological outcomes at the cellular level.
Cartilage repair: Generations of autologous chondrocyte transplantation
European Journal of Radiology, 2006
Articular cartilage in adults has a limited capacity for self-repair after a substantial injury. Surgical therapeutic efforts to treat cartilage defects have focused on delivering new cells capable of chondrogenesis into the lesions. Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) is an advanced cell-based orthobiologic technology used for the treatment of chondral defects of the knee that has been in clinical use since 1987 and has been performed on 12,000 patients internationally. With ACT, good to excellent clinical results are seen in isolated post-traumatic lesions of the knee joint in the younger patient, with the formation of hyaline or hyaline-like repair tissue. In the classic ACT technique, chondrocytes are isolated from small slices of cartilage harvested arthroscopically from a minor weight-bearing area of the injured knee. The extracellular matrix is removed by enzymatic digestion, and the cells are then expanded in monolayer culture. Once a sufficient number of cells has been obtained, the chondrocytes are implanted into the cartilage defect, using a periosteal patch over the defect as a method of cell containment. The major complications are periosteal hypertrophy, delamination of the transplant, arthrofibrosis and transplant failure. Further improvements in tissue engineering have contributed to the next generation of ACT techniques, where cells are combined with resorbable biomaterials, as in matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT). These biomaterials secure the cells in the defect area and enhance their proliferation and differentiation.
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 2002
W e investigated the clinical, arthroscopic and biomechanical outcome of transplanting autologous chondrocytes, cultured in atelocollagen gel, for the treatment of full-thickness defects of cartilage in 28 knees (26 patients) over a minimum period of 25 months. Transplantation eliminated locking of the knee and reduced pain and swelling in all patients. The mean Lysholm score improved significantly. Arthroscopic assessment indicated that 26 knees (93%) had a good or excellent outcome. There were few adverse features, except for marked hypertrophy of the graft in three knees, partial detachment of the periosteum in three and partial ossification of the graft in one. Biomechanical tests revealed that the transplants had acquired a hardness similar to that of the surrounding cartilage. We conclude that transplanting chondrocytes in a newly-formed matrix of atelocollagen gel can promote restoration of the articular cartilage of the knee.
Journal of Veterinary Medical Science, 2004
To evaluate the effects of chondrocytes transplantation on the regeneration of cartilage by intraarticular injection or injection into blood clots at cartilage defects, eight full-thickness cartilage defects were created surgically on the articular surface o f each femoral trochlea of two calves. Autologous chondrocytes were isolated individually from the cartilage pieces collected at the creation of defects. And isolated cells were cultured in monolayers for proliferation. Cells were injected into synovial fluid (Group 2, n=11) or into the blood clots at the cartilage defects (Group 3, n=5) of the left femoropatellar joint on weeks 2 and 3, respectively after the operation. The defects (Group 1, n=16) of right femoropatellar joint were left untreated in the control group. After 14 weeks, repaired tissues were evaluated based on gross and histological examinations. In Group 3, more repaired tissues and a better interface between the repaired tissue and host cartilage were observed compared with the results for Groups 1 and 2. Moreover, cartilaginous tissue were observed more in defects of Group 3 than in defects of other groups. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the injection of cells into the blood clot at a cartilage defect might be applicable for the regeneration of damaged cartilage.
Rabbit articular cartilage defects treated by allogenic chondrocyte transplantation
International Orthopaedics, 2006
Articular cartilage defects have a poor capacity for repair. Most of the current treatment options result in the formation of fibro-cartilage, which is functionally inferior to normal hyaline articular cartilage. We studied the effectiveness of allogenic chondrocyte transplantation for focal articular cartilage defects in rabbits. Chondrocytes were cultured in vitro from cartilage harvested from the knee joints of a New