Biochemical and Biomechanical Properties of Lesion and Adjacent Articular Cartilage after Chondral Defect Repair in an Equine Model

Background Chondral defects may lead to degradative changes in the surrounding cartilage, predisposing patients to developing osteoarthritis. Purpose To quantify changes in the biomechanical and biochemical properties of the articular cartilage adjacent to chondral defects after experimental defect repair. Study Design Controlled laboratory study. Methods Specimens were harvested from tissue within (lesion), immediately adjacent to, and at a distance from (remote area) a full-thickness cartilage defect 8 months after cartilage repair with genetically modified chondrocytes expressing insulin-like growth factor-I or unmodified, control chondrocytes. Biomechanical properties, including instantaneous Young's and equilibrium aggregate moduli, were determined by confined compression testing. Biochemical properties, such as water and proteoglycan content, were also measured. Results The instantaneous Young's modulus, equilibrium modulus, and proteoglycan content increased, whereas water content decreased with increasing distance from the repaired lesion. The instantaneous Young's and equilibrium moduli of the adjacent articular cartilage were 80% and 50% that of remote area samples, respectively, whereas water content increased 0.9% and proteoglycan content was decreased by 35%. No significant changes in biomechanical and biochemical properties were found either in the lesion tissue or in adjacent cartilage with genetic modification of the chondrocytes. Conclusion Articular cartilage adjacent to repaired chondral defects showed significant remodeling 8 months after chondral defect repair, regardless of whether genetically modified or unmodified cells were implanted. Clinical Relevance Changes in the biochemical and biomechanical properties of articular cartilage adjacent to repaired chondral defects may represent remodeling as part of an adaptive process or degeneration secondary to an altered distribution of joint forces. Quantification of these changes could provide important parameters for assessing progress after operative chondral defect repair.

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Influence of Donor Age on the Biomechanical and Biochemical Properties of Human Meniscal Allografts

The American Journal of Sports Medicine ◽

10.1177/0363546508330140 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 37 (5) ◽

pp. 884-889 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Predrag Bursac ◽

Amanda York ◽

Paulette Kuznia ◽

Lauren M. Brown ◽

Steven P. Arnoczky

Keyword(s):

Water Content ◽

Tensile Properties ◽

Tensile Modulus ◽

Biomechanical Properties ◽

Biochemical Properties ◽

Donor Age ◽

Age Dependent ◽

Static Tensile ◽

Proteoglycan Content ◽

Effect Of Age

Background Although the use of meniscal allografts to replace severely damaged or absent menisci is commonplace, little is known about the effects of donor age on the biochemical and biomechanical properties of human menisci. Hypothesis The mechanical and biochemical properties of human medial and lateral menisci from donors less than 45 years of age do not vary with donor age. Study Design Controlled laboratory study. Methods Thirty-three lateral and 25 medial menisci from 34 donors (26 male and 8 female) ranging from 15 to 44 years of age were harvested and immediately stored at —80°C. The outer third of each meniscus was subjected to static and dynamic tensile analysis. In addition, the biochemical composition (collagen, proteoglycan, and water content) of these samples was analyzed. Results There was no correlation between donor age and static tensile stiffness for either the lateral (R2 = .003) or medial (R2 = .002) meniscus. Likewise, there was no correlation between donor age and dynamic tensile modulus for either the lateral or medial meniscus. Although there was a weak, positive correlation between water content and age in both lateral (R2 = .22) and medial (R2 = .25) menisci, there was no effect of age on collagen or proteoglycan content. There were no differences (P > .05) between female and male menisci in any of the measured biomechanical or biochemical parameters tested. Conclusion The tensile properties, as well as the collagen and proteoglycan content, of menisci from donors less than 45 years of age were not age dependent. Clinical Relevance The age of the donor does not appear to affect the initial tensile properties of menisci from donors less than 45 years of age.

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Chondral Defect Repair after the Microfracture Procedure

The American Journal of Sports Medicine ◽

10.1177/0363546504271744 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 33 (5) ◽

pp. 680-685 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Thomas J. Gill ◽

Patrick C. Mcculloch ◽

Sonya S. Glasson ◽

Tracey Blanchet ◽

Elizabeth A. Morris

Keyword(s):

Time Course ◽

Bone Repair ◽

Chondral Defect ◽

Primate Model ◽

Activity Restriction ◽

Time Points ◽

Chondral Defects ◽

The Status ◽

Defect Repair

Background The extent and time course of chondral defect healing after microfracture in humans are not well described. Although most physicians recommend a period of activity and weightbearing restriction to protect the healing cartilage, there are limited data on which to base decisions regarding the duration of such restrictions. Hypothesis Evaluation of the status of chondral defect repair at different time points after microfracture in a primate model may provide a rationale for postoperative activity recommendations. Study Design Descriptive laboratory study. Methods Full-thickness chondral defects created on the femoral condyles and trochlea of 12 cynomolgus macaques were treated with microfracture and evaluated by gross and histologic examination at 6 and 12 weeks. Results At 6 weeks, there was limited chondral repair and ongoing resorption of subchondral bone. By 12 weeks, the defects were completely filled and showed more mature cartilage and bone repair. Conclusion In the primate animal model, significant improvements in the extent and quality of cartilage repair were observed from the 6- to 12-week time points after microfracture. Clinical Relevance The poor status of the defect repair at 6 weeks and the ongoing healing observed from the 6- to 12-week time points may indicate that the repair is vulnerable during this initial postoperative period. Assuming the goal of postoperative weightbearing and activity restriction in patients after microfracture is to protect immature repair tissue, this study lends support to extending such recommendations longer than 6 weeks.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Contrast enhanced computed tomography can predict the glycosaminoglycan content and biomechanical properties of articular cartilage.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.3022957.2703056 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Jukka Jurvelin ◽

Simo Saarakkala

Keyword(s):

Computed Tomography ◽

Articular Cartilage ◽

Biomechanical Properties ◽

Contrast Enhanced ◽

Enhanced Computed Tomography ◽

Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography

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Influence of Permeability on the Compressive Property of Articular Cartilage: A Scaffold-Free, Stem Cell-Based Therapy for Cartilage Repair

ASME 2011 Summer Bioengineering Conference, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/sbc2011-53365 ◽

2011 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tomoya Susa ◽

Ryosuke Nansai ◽

Norimasa Nakamura ◽

Hiromichi Fujie

Keyword(s):

Articular Cartilage ◽

Superficial Layer ◽

Cell Delivery ◽

Compressive Property ◽

Chondral Defect ◽

Element Analysis ◽

Normal Cartilage ◽

Cell Based Therapy ◽

Immunological Effects

Since the healing capacity of articular cartilage is limited, it is important to develop cell-based therapies for the repair of cartilage. Although synthetic or animal-derived scaffolds are frequently used for effective cell delivery long-term safety and efficiency of such scaffolds still remain unclear. We have been studying on a scaffold-free tissue engineered construct (TEC) bio-synthesized from synovium-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) [1]. As the TEC specimen is composed of cells with their native extracellular matrix, we believe that it is free from concern regarding long term immunological effects. our previous studies indicated that a porcine partial thickness chondral defect was successfully repaired with TEC but that the compressive property of the TEC-treated cartilage-like repaired tissue was different from normal cartilage in both immature and mature animals. Imura et al. found that the permeability of the immature porcine cartilage-like tissues repaired with TEC recovered to normal level for 6 months except the superficial layer [2]. Therefore, the present study was performed to determine the depth-dependent permeability of mature porcine cartilage-like tissue repaired with TEC. Moreover, we investigated the effect of difference of permeability on the compressive property of articular cartilage using a finite element analysis (FEM).

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A composite scaffold of Wharton’s jelly and chondroitin sulphate loaded with human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells repairs articular cartilage defects in rat knee

Journal of Materials Science Materials in Medicine ◽

10.1007/s10856-021-06506-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Zhong Li ◽

Yikang Bi ◽

Qi Wu ◽

Chao Chen ◽

Lu Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stem Cells ◽

Articular Cartilage ◽

Composite Scaffold ◽

Biomechanical Properties ◽

Cartilage Defects ◽

Human Umbilical Cord ◽

Composite Scaffolds ◽

Articular Cartilage Defects

AbstractTo evaluate the performance of a composite scaffold of Wharton’s jelly (WJ) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) and the effect of the composite scaffold loaded with human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) in repairing articular cartilage defects, two experiments were carried out. The in vitro experiments involved identification of the hUCMSCs, construction of the biomimetic composite scaffolds by the physical and chemical crosslinking of WJ and CS, and testing of the biomechanical properties of both the composite scaffold and the WJ scaffold. In the in vivo experiments, composite scaffolds loaded with hUCMSCs and WJ scaffolds loaded with hUCMSCs were applied to repair articular cartilage defects in the rat knee. Moreover, their repair effects were evaluated by the unaided eye, histological observations, and the immunogenicity of scaffolds and hUCMSCs. We found that in vitro, the Young’s modulus of the composite scaffold (WJ-CS) was higher than that of the WJ scaffold. In vivo, the composite scaffold loaded with hUCMSCs repaired rat cartilage defects better than did the WJ scaffold loaded with hUCMSCs. Both the scaffold and hUCMSCs showed low immunogenicity. These results demonstrate that the in vitro construction of a human-derived WJ-CS composite scaffold enhances the biomechanical properties of WJ and that the repair of knee cartilage defects in rats is better with the composite scaffold than with the single WJ scaffold if the scaffold is loaded with hUCMSCs.

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