Injectable gellan gum hydrogels with autologous cells for the treatment of rabbit articular cartilage defects

✍ Scribed by João T. Oliveira; Leandro S. Gardel; Tommaso Rada; Luís Martins; Manuela E. Gomes; Rui L. Reis

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 260 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0736-0266
• DOI: 10.1002/jor.21114

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

In this work, the ability of gellan gum hydrogels coupled with autologous cells to regenerate rabbit full‐thickness articular cartilage defects was tested. Five study groups were defined: (a) gellan gum with encapsulated chondrogenic predifferentiated rabbit adipose stem cells (ASC + GF); (b) gellan gum with encapsulated nonchondrogenic predifferentiated rabbit adipose stem cells (ASC); (c) gellan gum with encapsulated rabbit articular chondrocytes (AC) (standard control); (d) gellan gum alone (control); (e) empty defect (control). Full‐thickness articular cartilage defects were created and the gellan gum constructs were injected and left for 8 weeks. The macroscopic aspect of the explants showed a progressive increase of similarity with the lateral native cartilage, stable integration at the defect site, more pronouncedly in the cell‐loaded constructs. Tissue scoring showed that ASC + GF exhibited the best results regarding tissue quality progression. Alcian blue retrieved similar results with a better outcome for the cell‐loaded constructs. Regarding real‐time PCR analyses, ASC + GF had the best progression with an upregulation of collagen type II and aggrecan, and a downregulation of collagen type I. Gellan gum hydrogels combined with autologous cells constitute a promising approach for the treatment of articular cartilage defects, and adipose derived cells may constitute a valid alternative to currently used articular chondrocytes. © 2010 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 28:1193–1199, 2010