Tissue Preservation and Biobanking

Background: Chondrogenesis is a well-orchestrated process in which chondroprogenitors undergo proliferation and chondrocyte differentiation. Because cartilage lacks blood supply, it shows poor regenerative power and subsequent wound healing. Cartilage degeneration caused by disease or trauma carries great clinical implication on the function of joints. The end stage of cartilage damage frequently leads to osteoarthritis (OA), resulting in a significant impairment of the quality of life of millions of people. MSCs are multilineage progenitors responsible for the normal turnover and repair of mesenchymal tissues, such as bone, cartilage, ligament, and fat. In-vitro expanded MSCs can differentiate into chondrogenic, adipogenic and

osteogenic lineages.

 

Aim: The objective of this work was to evaluate the regenerative effect of cell therapy in cases of acute and chronic OA canine models of surgically induced partial thickness chondral defects injected with autologous bone marrow derived MSCs.
 

Study Design: This work was done on 24 knees of male domestic mongrel dogs. OA was induced by doing surgical chondral defects then injected intra-articular with MSCs. Dogs were divided into the following groups: acute (injected after 1 day), chronic (after 1 month) and control group received conventional treatment. The dogs were sacrificed after 1, 2, 6 and 8 weeks

of injection. Assessment by histological scoring of cartilage repair (Os Score) for blind randomized samples and by clinical examination for lameness degree scores was done.

 

Results: Our results showed that dogs possess characteristics that are not found in traditional rodent models and confirmed the efficacy of direct intraarticular injection of MSCs to home and function in cartilage defects both in acute and chronic lesions.

 

Conclusion: This study concludes that the local delivery of MSC is a good therapeutic option for O A.