Repair of articular cartilage defect of swine with autologous engineered osteochondral complex

Objective To explore the feasibility of repair of articular cartilage defects with autologous engineered osteochondral complex,and evaluate the efficacy.Methods Chondrocytes and osteoblasts were isolated from swine articulars cartilages and expanded respectively in vitro.Chondrocytes were seeded into a poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) scaffold,while osteoblasts were seeded into a TCP scaffold.They were cultured for 2 weeks,and sutured into osteochondral complex.In group A,the osteochondral complex was transplanted to repair articular cartilage defect.In group B,the engineered cartilages were transplanted,and in group C,nothing was given as the control group.They were harvested and examined after 3 months.Results Their surfaces of the tissues in group A were smooth and glossy.Fibrous tissues were foundin group B,and there were no changes in group C.The distributions of cartilaginous extracellular matrices in group A were more homogenous than the others.The contents of GAG in group A were (571.50 ± 12.77) μg,higher than in group B [(410.67 ± 17.36) μg],and group C [(308.17 ±19.34) μg],and the differences were statistically significant (P ＜0.01).The percentages of collagen Ⅱ dyeing area in group A were (90.07 ± 2.45) ％,higher than in group B [(79.53 ± 4.72) ％],and group C [(66.17 ±2.94)％],and the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.01).Conclusion The osteochondral complex can fix early andrepair the articular cartilage defect effectively. Key words: Osteochondral complex; Articular cartilage defect; Tissue engineering