Ⅱ型胶原水凝胶-细胞复合物在软骨损伤中的应用

Type II collagen hydrogel-cell complexes for cartilage injury

BACKGROUND: As the main component of articular cartilage, type II collagen can induce bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into the cartilage. However, there is no uniform standard for the preparation of type II collagen hydrogel and its usage in the repair of sports-induced cartilage injury.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of type II collagen hydrogel-cell complexes in the repair of cartilage injury. METHODS: After modeling, 30 New Zealand rabbits with cartilage injury were randomized into two groups (n=15 per group): type II collagen hydrogel-bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell complexes were implanted into the injured site of rabbits in experimental group, while only type II collagen hydrogel implanted in control group. Histomorphology observation was performed by hematoxylin-eosin and toluidine blue staining after 4 and 8 weeks after implantation.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In the experimental group, there were inflammatory cells infiltrated at the injured site, most of which were macrophages and only a small amount of which were neutrophils under hematoxylin-eosin staining, at 4 weeks after implantation, while toluidine blue staining showed no positive. At 8 weeks after implantation, a large amount of chondrocytes proliferated at the injured site that was repaired by chondroblasts and myotubes as well as new vessels under hematoxylin-eosin staining, and toluidine blue staining showed the injured tissues were similar to normal tissues. In the control group, at 4 weeks after implantation, obvious interstitial edema existed, whereas skeletal muscle cells disappeared around the injured site, and a lot of inflammatory cells infiltrated. Several chondroblasts formed at 8 weeks, accompanied by increased fibrous tissues. Moreover, toluidine blue staining always showed no positive in the control group. To conclude, the type II collagen hydrogel-cell complex has better chondrogenic ability that can be used for cartilage repair.