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Effect of GDF‐5 on ligament healing
Author(s) -
Tashiro Toshiyuki,
Hiraoka Hisatada,
Ikeda Yasuko,
Ohnuki Toshiyuki,
Suzuki Ryuji,
Ochi Takahiro,
Nakamura Kozo,
Fukui Naoshi
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of orthopaedic research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.041
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1554-527X
pISSN - 0736-0266
DOI - 10.1002/jor.20002
Subject(s) - medial collateral ligament , procollagen peptidase , ligament , decorin , growth differentiation factor , tibia , bone healing , femur , anatomy , chemistry , medicine , extracellular matrix , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , surgery , bone morphogenetic protein , biochemistry , proteoglycan , gene
The effects of growth and differentiation factor‐5 (GDF‐5) on ligament healing were studied using a gap injury model of the medial collateral ligament in rat knee joints. The administration of GDF‐5 once at the time of surgery significantly improved the mechanical properties of the femur–ligament–tibia complex. At 3 weeks after surgery, 30 µg of GDF‐5 improved the ultimate tensile strength of the complex by 41%, and the stiffness by 60%, compared with the vehicle control ( p < 0.05 for both; Fisher's PLSD test). The observation with a transmission electron microscopy revealed that GDF‐5 increased the diameter of collagen fibrils in the repair tissue, which was considered to be a possible mechanism for the positive result in the biomechanical testing. Quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization revealed enhanced type I procollagen expression by GDF‐5, and the PCR analysis also revealed that the GDF‐5 treatment reduced the expression of type III procollagen relative to type I procollagen. The PCR analysis further showed that the expression of decorin and fibromodulin was relatively reduced against type I procollagen by the growth factor, which was considered to be responsible for the increase of collagen fibril diameter in the repair tissue. No adverse effects were observed, and the use of GDF‐5 was considered a promising approach to facilitate ligament healing. © 2005 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res