Premium
Injectable gellan gum hydrogels with autologous cells for the treatment of rabbit articular cartilage defects
Author(s) -
Oliveira João T.,
Gardel Leandro S.,
Rada Tommaso,
Martins Luís,
Gomes Manuela E.,
Reis Rui L.
Publication year - 2010
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.21114
Subject(s) - gellan gum , self healing hydrogels , rabbit (cipher) , articular cartilage , cartilage , tissue engineering , biomedical engineering , materials science , chemistry , anatomy , osteoarthritis , medicine , pathology , polymer chemistry , computer science , food science , alternative medicine , computer security
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