open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/47496

Spontaneous hyaline cartilage regeneration can be induced in an osteochondral defect created in the femoral condyle using a novel double-network hydrogel

英語

2011

BioMed Central

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

12(1)

49-58

Background: Functional repair of articular osteochondral defects remains a major challenge not only in the field ofknee surgery but also in tissue regeneration medicine. The purpose is to clarify whether the spontaneous hyalinecartilage regeneration can be induced in a large osteochondral defect created in the femoral condyle by means ofimplanting a novel double-network (DN) gel at the bottom of the defect. Methods: Twenty-five mature rabbits were used in this study. In the bilateral knees of each animal, we created anosteochondral defect having a diameter of 2.4-mm in the medial condyle. Then, in 21 rabbits, we implanted a DNgel plug into a right knee defect so that a vacant space of 1.5-mm depth (in Group I), 2.5-mm depth (in Group II),or 3.5-mm depth (in Group III) was left. In the left knee, we did not apply any treatment to the defect to obtainthe control data. All the rabbits were sacrificed at 4 weeks, and the gross and histological evaluations wereperformed. The remaining 4 rabbits underwent the same treatment as used in Group II, and real-time PCR analysiswas performed at 4 weeks. Results: The defect in Group II was filled with a sufficient volume of the hyaline cartilage tissue rich inproteoglycan and type-2 collagen. The Wayne’s gross appearance and histology scores showed that Group II wassignificantly greater than Group I, III, and Control (p < 0.012). The relative expression level of type-2 collagen,aggrecan, and SOX9 mRNAs was significantly greater in Group II than in the control group (p < 0.023). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that spontaneous hyaline cartilage regeneration can be induced in vivo in anosteochondral defect created in the femoral condyle by means of implanting the DN gel plug at the bottom of thedefect so that an approximately 2-mm deep vacant space was intentionally left in the defect. This fact has promptedus to propose an innovative strategy without cell culture to repair osteochondral lesions in the femoral condyle.

学術雑誌論文

Version of Record

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

1471-2474

AA12035278