Abstract
Cell therapy is a promising approach to improve cartilage healing. Adipose tissue is an abundant and readily accessible cell source. Previous studies have demonstrated good cartilage repair results with adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells in small animal experiments. This study aimed to examine these cells in a large animal model. Thirty knees of adult sheep were randomly allocated to three treatment groups: CELLS (scaffold seeded with human adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells), SCAFFOLD (scaffold without cells), or EMPTY (untreated lesions). A partial thickness defect was created in the medial femoral condyle. After six months, the knees were examined according to an adaptation of the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS 1) score, in addition to a new Partial Thickness Model scale and the ICRS macroscopic score. All of the animals completed the follow-up period. The CELLS group presented with the highest ICRS 1 score (8.3 ± 3.1), followed by the SCAFFOLD group (5.6 ± 2.2) and the EMPTY group (5.2 ± 2.4) (p = 0.033). Other scores were not significantly different. These results suggest that human adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells promoted satisfactory cartilage repair in the ovine model.
Highlights
Articular cartilage is a specialized aneural, avascular and alymphatic connective tissue of mesodermal origin that covers the articulating ends of diarthrodial joints [1]
Articular cartilage is significantly different in terms of structure, extracellular matrix, gene expression profile and mechanical properties than transient hyaline cartilage, which is found in growth plates and suffers ossification over time [2]
Flow cytometry results showed that the isolated AT-Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exhibited around 95% positive staining for CD90, CD105, CD73 and CD29 and less than 2% positive staining for HLA-DR, CD45, CD34 and STRO-1 (Figure 1)
Summary
Articular cartilage is a specialized aneural, avascular and alymphatic connective tissue of mesodermal origin that covers the articulating ends of diarthrodial joints [1]. The drawbacks associated with the use of adult autologous chondrocytes include the requirement for a two-step surgery; donor site morbidity; the small quantity of cells available, requiring a long cell culture time before implantation; and the occurrence of cellular senescence and dedifferentiation [10]. To overcome these problems, researchers are focused on the use of advanced biological tissue engineering techniques utilizing different cell sources
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