The repair of experimentally produced defects in rabbit articular cartilage by autologous chondrocyte transplantation

TLDR

The study investigates the intrinsic healing capacity of cartilage defects and the effect of autologous chondrocyte transplantation on repair. Autologous chondrocytes were cultured, labeled with a nuclear tracer, and transplanted into rabbit knee cartilage defects, with repair evaluated by light microscopy and autoradiography. Transplantation markedly reduced synovitis, achieved 82 % cartilage repair versus 18 % in controls, and incorporated labeled chondrocytes into the matrix.

Abstract

Abstract Using the knee joints of New Zealand White rabbits, a baseline study was made to determine the intrinsic capability of cartilage for healing defects that do not fracture the subchondral plate. A second experiment examined the effect of autologous chondrocytes grown in vitro on the healing rate of these defects. To determine whether any of the reconstituted cartilage resulted from the chondrocyte graft, a third experiment was conducted involving grafts with chondrocytes that had been labeled prior to grafting with a nuclear tracer. Results were evaluated using both qualitative and quantitative light microscopy. Macroscopic results from grafted specimens displayed a marked decrease in synovitis and other degenerative changes. In defects that had received transplants, a significant amount of cartilage was reconstituted (82%) compared to ungrafted controls (18%). Autoradiography on reconstituted cartilage showed that there were labeled cells incorporated into the repair matrix.