45.
A novel nano-structured porous polycaprolactone scaffold improves
hyaline cartilage repair in a rabbit model compared to a collagen type
I/III scaffold: in vitro and in vivo studies
Bjørn Borsøe Christensen, Casper Bindzus Foldager, Ole Møller Hansen, Jens
Vinge Nygaard, Cody Erik Bünger, Martin Lind
Ortopædisk forskningslaboratorium Aarhus sygehus Nørrebrogade;
Ortopædisk forskningslaboratorium, Aarhus sygehus Nørrebrogade;
Ortopædisk forskningslaboratorium, Aarhus sygehus Nørrebrogade; Institut for
ingeniørvidenskab, Aarhus universitet; Ortopædisk forskningslaboratorium,
Aarhus sygehus Nørrebrogade; Idrætssektoren, Aarhus sygehus Tage Hansens
gade
Background:
Injuries to articular cartilage have shown a limited potential to
regenerate. No current treatment option has shown the ability to consistently
provide hyaline repair tissue.
Purpose / Aim of Study:
To develop a nano-structured porous
polycaprolactone (NSP-PCL) scaffold and compare the osteochondral repair
potential with that of a commercially available collagen type I/III scaffold.
Materials and Methods:
The NSP-PCL scaffold was produced by combining
rapid prototyping and thermally induced phase separation. In vitro: The
scaffolds were seeded with rabbit chondrocytes and cultured in hypoxia for 6
days. qRT–PCR on primers for sox9, aggrecan, collagen type 1 and 2. In vivo:
15
New Zealand White Rabbits received osteochondral defects in the femoral
intercondylar grooves. Cartilage was harvested 4 weeks prior to surgery. 3
treatment groups: (1) NSP-PCL scaffold without cells. (2) The collagen I/III
scaffold with autologous chondrocytes and (3) NSP-PCL scaffold with
autologous chondrocytes. 13 weeks observation. Evaluation using the
O’Driscoll score.
Findings / Results:
In vitro: The expressions of sox9 and aggrecan were
higher in the NSP-PCL scaffold, while expression of collagen 1 was lower
compared to the collagen I/III scaffold. In vivo: Both NSP-PCL scaffolds with
and without cells scored significantly higher than the collagen I/III scaffold
when looking at the structural integrity and the surface regularity. No
differences were found between the NSP-PCL scaffold with and without cells.
Conclusions:
The NSP-PCL scaffold had higher expression of chondrogenic
markers and had higher histological scores than the collagen I/III scaffold. The
chondrocytic differentiation could improve clinical cartilage repair. It appears
to be a suitable cell-free implant for hyaline cartilage repair and could be a less
costly and more effective treatment option.
