Partial Resurfacing of the Distal Femoral Cartilage with Stem Cellseeded Poly-vinyl-alcohol (PVA) Scaffold

The field of tissue engineering has emerged over the past decades to improve the treatments for tissue and organ failure. The objective of this study was to evaluate the biological compatibility of differentiated stem cells embedded in poly-vinylalcohol (PVA) scaffolds for repair of distal femoral cartilage defect.

Twelve adult male New Zealand white rabbits were used which were divided into two groups (I, II), six rabbits each. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were isolated from humerus bone marrow of group I rabbits and were cultured and differentiated on PVA scaffolds to chondrocytes. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) showed well distribution of the cells inside the scaffold. A 4 mm diameter full thickness cartilage defect was created on the central region of bilateral distal femoral joint surface (patellar groove) in all rabbits. In group I the defects were covered with autologous MSCs-seeded scaffolds; whereas the group II rabbits were left without any treatment as control ones. Three rabbits from each group were euthanized after one month and the remaining at 3 months. Histopathologic evaluation of defects was performed with H&E and Trichrome staining.
The findings showed that in group I the defects were filled with smooth, shiny white tissue macroscopically at three months after transplantation. The defects of this group were almost completely filled with hyaline cartilage histopathologically. Despite much connective tissue formed in defect area, there was no evidence of chondrocytes in the control group. There was a significant difference in histopathological grading score between experimental and control groups.
The results indicated there is positive possibility for partial resurfacing of cartilage defect using stem cellseeded PVA scaffolds..