Intraarticular Implantation of Autologous Chondrocytes Placed on Collagen or Polyethersulfone Scaffolds: An Experimental Study in Rabbits

Abstract

Hyaline cartilage has very limited repair capability and cannot be rebuilt predictably using conventional treatments. This study presents Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) on two different scaffolds for the treatment of lesions in hyaline cartilage in rabbits. The first one is a commercially available scaffold (Chondro–Gide) made of collagen type I/III and the second one is a polyethersulfone (PES) synthetic membrane, manufactured by phase inversion. The revolutionary idea in the present study is the fact that we used PES membranes, which have unique features and benefits that are desirable for the 3D cultivation of chondrocytes. Sixty-four White New Zealand rabbits were used in this research. Defects penetrating into the subchondral bone were filled with or without the placement of chondrocytes on collagen or PES membranes after two weeks of culture. The expression of the gene encoding type II procollagen, a molecular marker of chondrocytes, was evaluated. Elemental analysis was performed to estimate the weight of tissue grown on the PES membrane. The reparative tissue was analyzed macroscopically and histologically after surgery at 12, 25, and 52 weeks. RT-PCR analysis of the mRNA isolated from cells detached from the polysulphonic membrane revealed the expression of type II procollagen. The elementary analysis of polysulphonic membrane slices after 2 weeks of culture with chondrocytes revealed a concentration of 0.23 mg of tissue on one part of the membrane. Macroscopic and microscopic evaluation indicated that the quality of regenerated tissue was similar after the transplantation of cells placed on polysulphonic or collagen membranes. The established method for the culture and transplantation of chondrocytes placed on polysulphonic membranes resulted in the growth of the regenerated tissue, revealing the morphology of hyaline-like cartilage to be of similar quality to collagen membranes.

Polyethersulfone Polymer for Biomedical Applications and Biotechnology

“…PES shows good chemical, physics, and biological properties like resistance to many organic solvents, UV, or ionizing radiation. It is characterized by good mechanical resistance, poor water absorption, and thermal strength in the temperature range of 180-220 • C [30,41,[43][44][45].…”

“…PES shows good c physics, and biological properties like resistance to many organic solvents, UV, or radiation. It is characterized by good mechanical resistance, poor water absorpt thermal strength in the temperature range of 180-220 °C [30,41,[43][44][45]. Water absorption is an important property to consider when evaluating the mance of polymers, especially in biomedical applications where contact with bodi or water is common.…”

“…Solvents like chlorinated hydrocarbons and strong oxidizing agents may have some effect on PES, potentially causing swelling or degradation over prolonged exposure. However, compared to many other polymers, PES maintains its structural integrity well in the presence of various solvents [30,41,[43][44][45].…”

“…The mentioned techniques do not affect the degradation of PES, which is crucial for medical device applications. Furthermore, it can be obtained in a non-toxic and biocompatible form that is very important in the biomedical application [30,41,[43][44][45].…”

“…PES membranes are extensively used in medical fields: a wide range of medical equipment is used for blood purification devices (hemodialysis, hemofiltration, plasmapheresis, hemodiafiltration, and plasma collectors) and even to obtain artificial organs trough culture on scaffolds various cells [30,41,43,44,61,62].…”