Reparation of chondral defects in rabbits by autologous and allogenous chondrocytes seeded on collagen/hyaluronan scaffold or suspended in fibrin glue

The topic of the study was to verify in vivo survival of in vitro cultured autologous and allogenous chondrocytes suspended in a fibrin glue Beriplast® or seeded on Collagen type I-Hyaluronan (Col type I-HYA) scaffolds for the regeneration of articular cartilage defects in rabbits. The study was carried out on 15 domestic rabbits randomly assigned to five groups (n = 3 in each) with different treatments of artificially created chondral defects (ChD´s). These defects were made in a non-load-bearing area of medial condyle of the distal femur, and were treated as follows: 1st and 3rd group: the ChD´s were filled with autologous or allogenous chondrocytes seeded on Col type I-HYA scaffolds, respectively. The scaffolds were fixed to the ChD´s by fibrin glue Beriplast®; 2nd and 4th group: the ChD´s were filled with a suspension of autologous or allogenous chondrocytes in fibrin glue Beriplast®, respectively, and they were immediately covered by unseeded Col type I-HYA scaffolds; Control group: the ChD´s were left to heal spontaneously without any treatment. Macroscopical, histological and immunohistochemical analyses of the ChD´s were performed 12 months after the treatment. In all treated groups, the chondrocytes were capable to proliferate and produce the cartilage extracellular matrix, including proteoglycans and type II collagen, as compared to the control “untreated” group. On the other hand, the production of hyaline-like cartilage tissue confirmed that both therapeutic methods using autologous chondrocytes can be applied successfully for the treatment of chondral defects in rabbits.