支架及无支架条件下构建组织工程软骨的研究进展

支架材料的研究是组织工程的研究热点之一,软骨细胞复合培养给组织工程软骨的构建带来希望,单一的材料诸如胶原、透明质酸、壳聚糖、纤维蛋白凝胶等已经证明可以与软骨细胞复合培养,两种或者多种材料复合可以提高材料的性能,更好地用于组织工程软骨的构建,并满足软骨缺损修复的需要;同样,在无支架情况下应用软骨细胞聚集培养、沉淀培养的方法,可以构建组织工程软骨,并给软骨缺损的修复带来新希望,但目前的研究较少。两者是组织工程软骨构建的两个主要方向。     

游离骨膜移植修复关节软骨缺损的实验研究

在家兔的股骨内髁上作一关节软骨全层缺损,且从同侧胫骨近端取下一片骨膜骨块,将骨膜生发层向外包绕骨块,嵌入缺损处,观察其作用。实验表明,骨膜在一定条件下可以化生成软骨;滑液环境与关节运动在软骨化生过程中起重要作用;透明软骨化生和再生率与运动量及开始时间相关;自体骨可作为一种将游离骨膜固定在软骨缺损内的填充材料。     

细胞因子与骨性关节炎软骨退变的研究现状

骨性关节炎是最常见关节疾患之一,是导致中老年残疾的最常见原因,严重危害着中老年人的生活质量。骨性关节炎的主要病理是软骨的改变,软骨细胞分解和合成活动的平衡有助于维持软骨细胞外基质结构和功能的完整性,而软骨细胞的这种平衡受到细胞因子制约,本文就近年来细胞因子与OA软骨退变之间的研究现状综述。     

关节镜下应用“微骨折”方法修复关节软骨缺损

目的:探讨关节镜下应用“微骨折”技术对膝关节全层关节软骨缺损修复的效果。方法:对68例全层关节软骨缺损患者进行随机分组:实验组(35例),男17例,女18例,平均年龄35.1岁,采用关节清理后应用“微骨折”技术进行处理,即利用骨刀设计的特性和适度的锤击力量造成软骨下的骨组织微小骨折,刺激软骨生长。对照组(33例),男17例,女16例,平均年龄31.6岁,仅作关节清理术。结果:术后随访6~18个月,平均8.6个月,按Lysholm评分标准,实验组明显优于对照组(P<0.01)。结论:关节镜下应用“微骨折”技术能够显著减轻关节疼痛,增加关节活动度,改善关节功能,是一种简单有效的修复全层关节软骨缺损方法。     

Intraosseous ganglion about to cause a fracture of the glenoid: a case report

Intraosseous ganglia of the glenoid are rare, and their etiology is unknown. This report describes a case of an intraosseous ganglion about to cause fracture of the glenoid. The patient was a 61-year-old woman with a painful left shoulder with a limited range of motion. Her symptoms did not improve after non-operative treatment. Arthroscopic examination showed a cartilage defect and erosion in the posteroinferior portion of the glenoid, behind which computed tomography (CT) showed a cystic lesion of the glenoid. There was no communication between the cyst and the joint space. The patient was treated by curettage and an autogenous cancellous bone graft from the iliac crest. Two years after the operation, the patient was almost free from pain, and CT showed good integration of the bone graft.     

Histological and clinical responses of articular cartilage to low-level laser therapy: Experimental study

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of low-level laser irradiation on experimental lesions of articular cartilage. A standard lesion was practised on the femoral trochlea of both hindlimbs of 20 clinically normal Californian rabbits. These animals were divided into two groups of 10 individuals each, depending on the laser equipment used for treatment. Onc group was treated with He-Ne laser (8 J cm^-2, 632.8 nm wavelength) and the other with infra-red (IR) laser (8 J cm^-2, 904 nm wavelength). In both groups, five points of irradiation to the right limb alone were irradiated per session for a total of 13 sessions, applied with an interval of 24 h between sessions. These points were the following: left and right femoral epicondyles, left and right tibial condyles and the centre of articulation. The distance between these points was approximately 1 cm. The untreated left limb was left as a control. During treatment, extension angle and periarticular thickness were considered. At the end of the treatment, samples were collected for histopathologi-cal study and stained with: Haematoxylin-Eosin, PAS and Done. The results show a statistically higher anti-inflammatory capacity of the IR laser (p < 0.0001). The functional recovery was statistically similar for both treatments (p < 0.176). Histological study showed, at the end of the treatment, hyaline cartilage in the IR group, fibrocartilage in the He-Ne group and granulation tissue in the control limbs. Clinical and histological results indicated that this laser treatment had a clear anti-inflammatory effect that provided a fast recuperation and regeneration of the articular cartilage.     

Blood vessels in epiphyseal cartilage of human fetal femoral bone: a scanning electron microscopic study of corrosion casts

Formation of intrachondral vessels (cartilage canals) in the proximal femoral epiphysis was studied in 13- to 22-week-old human fetuses using a corrosion casting technique and scanning electron microscopy. Several successive morphological stages of angiogenesis occurring inside the hyaline cartilage were distinguished. The process of cartilage vascularization starts with the formation of hairpin loops sent off from the perichondrial vascular network into the adjacent cartilage. A capillary glomerulus is then formed at the leading end, and the entire vascular unit grows in length, assuming a mushroom-like shape. Its further elongation is accompanied by a backward expansion of the capillary network which surrounds a pair of main vessels (arteriole and venule) like a manchette. The subsequent branching of such primary vascular units proceeds according to the same morphological patterns. The resulting tree-like vascular formations become interconnected via their lateral branches. This study clearly supports the invasion theory of cartilage canal formation.     

Calcium incorporation in cultured chondroblasts perturbed by an electromagnetic field

We tested the hypothesis that electric perturbation influences 45Ca incorporation in extracellular matrix (ECM) of cartilage in vitro. Hypertrophic chondroblasts of tibial epiphyses (HC), sternum (SC), and skin fibroblasts (F) were cultured from chick embryos. HC, SC, and F cells were micromass seeded three times per week and maintained at 37.5 degrees C with 5% CO2 for two weeks. Cultures were randomly designated control (C) or exposed (E) to a pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF). A time course experiment of calcium incorporation for all cultured groups showed that 24 h of exposure produced the largest biological response in chondroblasts. Calcium incorporation required supplemental phosphate. Autoradiography data indicated that the calcium incorporation into macromolecules largely occurred in the ECM. 45Ca steady-state perturbation was enhanced by Streptomyces hyaluronidase (SH) but not by testicular hyaluronidase (TH). 45Ca incorporation experiments tested the effects of phosphate, SH, TH, and PEMF alone and in various combinations on these cultures. Only PEMF or SH plus PEMF with phosphate enhanced 45Ca incorporation. Other experiments examined the effect of rotenone or freeze-thawing on cells exposed to PEMF. PEMF plus freeze-thaw enhanced calcium incorporation in HC only. PEMF appeared to cause disruption of the ECM, enhancing the probability of matrix calcification.     

Periosteal transplantation to the rabbit patella

Autologous periosteal transplantation (without chondrocyte cell transplantation) for treating traumatic articular cartilage defects of the patella gives pain relief in uncontrolled clinical studies. To study the whole transplanted area macroscopically and microscopically, animal studies are motivated. In this pilot study, we reproduce the surgical technique for periosteum transplantation on human patella to a rabbit model. A full-thickness cartilage defect of the whole patella was created in eight adult female rabbits. The defect was treated with autologous periosteal transplantation. After surgery, the rabbits were allowed free activity. This is the difference compared to the treatment in humans, where our group uses CPM for 5 days and non-weight-bearing for 12 weeks. After 21 weeks, there was a diffuse synovitis in all transplanted knees, and in five of eight knees there were signs of osteoarthritis in the patello-femoral joint. Histologically, in three animals, small islands of hyaline cartilage surrounded by fibrocartilage were seen in the transplanted area. In the other five animals, fibrocartilage was the predominant tissue. In contrast to previous experimental studies using a rabbit model, we did not achieve hyaline cartilage resurfacing.     

Cartilage destruction in small joints by rheumatoid arthritis: assessment of fat-suppressed three-dimensional gradient-echo MR pulse sequences in vitro

Purpose. To assess the accuracy of different MR sequences for the detection of articular cartilage abnormalities in rheumatoid arthritis. Design and patients. Ten metacarpophalangeal joints and 10 metatarsophalangeal joints (specimens from arthritis patients undergoing ablative joint surgery) were examined with a fat-suppressed (FS) 3D FLASH, a FS 3D FISP, a FS 2D fast spin-echo T2-weighted, and a 2D FS spin-echo T1-weighted sequence. Each cartilage lesion and each cortical lesion was graded from 0 to 4 (modified Outerbridge staging system). Subsequently, the results of each sequence were compared with the macroscopic findings and statistically tested against each other. Results. The study shows that 3D gradient-echo sequences with fat suppression were best for imaging and grading of cartilage lesions in arthritis of the small joints of the hands and feet. Using 3D techniques, all grade 2, grade 3, and grade 4 lesions of cartilage or cortical bone were detected. Conclusion. FS 3D gradient-echo techniques were best for the detection and grading of hyaline cartilage and subchondral bone lesions in rheumatoid arthritis. MRI has a great potential as an objective method of evaluating cartilage damage and bone erosions in rheumatoid arthritis.