Either osteoarthritis or sports-related injuries can lead to cartilage defects, whereas both chondrocyte self-renewal and conventional treatments face limitations. In cartilage regenerative medicine, growth factors are commonly used to induce chondrogenic differentiation of stem cells. However, application of growth factors is confined by some drawbacks. Emerging small molecules are regarded as an alternative for cartilage regeneration. A recently discovered small-molecule compound, kartogenin (KGN), has been proven to be a chondrogenic and chondroprotective agent and is more effective in inducing cartilage regeneration when compared with growth factors. KGN has been processed and applied in many forms, such as in intra-articular injection, in collaboration with growth factors, in incorporation in drug delivery systems, and in combination with scaffolds. Fortunately, progress has been achieved in KGN applications. The current review discusses the recent advances in KGN for cartilage regeneration and thus presents new concepts in cartilage repair in clinical settings.

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IntroductionDue to the aging of the world population and the increase of obesity rate, it is expected that the number of joint replacement surgery will continue to increase in the next few years. This study evaluated the safety differences between unilateral and bilateral hip replacement surgeries.MethodsThe data for patients who underwent hip arthroplasty in 2021 and 2022 were examined. The data set included 68 patients who were grouped according to the type of hip replacement needed, sex, age, and body mass index. Total blood loss and operative time were the safety-related indicators used to compare the groups.ResultsRegardless of whether the unilateral replacement group was compared with the overall bilateral replacement group or separately with the staged and simultaneous bilateral replacement groups, simultaneous bilateral replacement surgeries were equally safe as the other types of hip replacements. The total blood loss and operative time for the simultaneous bilateral replacement group were not significantly different from those in the unilateral and staged bilateral replacement groups. For overweight patients, the operative time for simultaneous bilateral replacements was significantly shorter than that for unilateral replacements.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that for patients requiring bilateral hip replacements, the blood loss risk for patients undergoing simultaneous bilateral hip replacements was similar to that for patients undergoing either unilateral or staged bilateral hip replacements. Thus, simultaneous bilateral total hip replacement (THR) are safe and should be considered for candidate patients.