Rabbit articular cartilage defects treated by allogenic chondrocyte transplantation

Abstract

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 Zealand White rabbit. A 3 mm defect was created in the articular cartilage of both knees in other rabbits. The cultured allogenic chondrocytes were transplanted into the defect in the right knees and closed with a periosteal flap, while the defects in the left knees served as controls and were closed with a periosteal flap alone, without chondrocytes. Healing of the defects was assessed at 12 weeks by histological studies. Allogenic chondrocyte transplantation significantly increased the amount of newly formed repair tissue (P=0.04) compared with that found in the control knees. The histological quality score of the repair tissue was significantly better (P=0.05), with more hyaline characteristics in the knees treated with allogenic chondrocytes than in the control knees. Articular cartilage defects treated with allogenic chondrocyte transplantation result in better repair tissue formation with hyaline characteristics than those in control knees.Résumé Nous avons étudié l'efficacité de la transplantation de chondrocytes allogènes pour des pertes de substances localisées chez le lapin. Une perte de substance de 3 mm a été crée au niveau des 2 genoux. Des chondrocytes ont été cultivés in vitro à partir de prélèvements fait sur les genoux de lapin blanc de Nouvelle Zélande. Les chondrocytes cultivés ont été transplantés dans le defect du genou droit et enfermés sous un lambeau périosté tandis que le genou gauche servait de contrôle avec un lambeau périosté sans chondrocyte. La cicatrisation cartilagineuse a été étudié histologiquement à 12 semaines. La transplantation de chondrocytes allogènes augmente significativement la quantité de tissu de réparation en comparant aux genoux de contrôle (p=0.04). Le score histologique est meilleur que dans le groupe de contrôle.

The regenerative effect of platelet-rich plasma on healing in large osteochondral defects

“…Large cartilage defects often fail to heal spontaneously and may result in progressive deterioration and eventually osteoarthritis [4]. In recent years, autologous chondrocyte transplantation and autologous osteochondral grafting have become popular in the clinical routine and have demonstrated the ability to promote the restoration of cartilage for patients with localised articular cartilage defects in some clinical trials [2,18]. However, the limited sources of transplants and donor site morbidity are inevitable drawbacks.…”

The effect of porosity and mechanical property of a synthetic polymer scaffold on repair of osteochondral defects

“…Recent cartilage regeneration techniques based on tissue engineering principles have reported generally good results [1,3,4,6,7,9,[19][20][21]. To transplant cultured cells into osteochondral lesions, scaffolds providing structural support are needed.…”

Implante de condrócitos homólogos em defeitos osteocondrais de cães: padronização da técnica e avaliação histopatológica

“…Contudo, apenas a colagenase foi utilizada para a digestão enzimática, promovendo o isolamento celular eficiente e, assim, reduzindo a complexidade da técnica sem causar efeitos deletérios. Essa metodologia está de acordo com outros autores que também eliminaram a pré-digestão enzimática (Boopalan et al, 2006;Revell et al, 2008).…”

“…Outros experimentos com transplante de condrócitos alógenos em coelhos têm apresentado bons resultados quanto à reparação da cartilagem sem causar rejeição (Wakitani et al, 1998;Funayama et al, 2008). Apesar da forte expressão antigênica dessas células, o tecido cartilaginoso parece ser protegido de resposta imunológica tanto pela matriz extracelular, que apresenta pouca antigenicidade, quanto pelo fato de ser avascular (Boopalan et al, 2006). Adicionalmente, as células isoladas de cartilagem por meio de colagenase, como realizado neste estudo, não estão totalmente livres de matriz extracelular (Elves, 1974).…”

“…A principal desvantagem do uso de condrócitos autólogos e sua ampla aplicação prática são a baixa disponibilidade, tanto em localização quanto em quantidade para a obtenção das células cartilaginosas para o cultivo. Boopalan et al (2006) realizaram implante articular alógeno em coelhos, descreveram boa taxa de sucesso e ausência de resposta imunogênica. Entretanto, na literatura consultada, não foram encontrados estudos de implante homólogo de condrócitos em ambiente articular em cães.…”