title: Articular cartilage repair in rabbits by using suspensions of allogenic chondrocytes in alginate.
abstract: The feasibility of allogenic implants of chondrocytes in alginate gels was tested for the reconstruction in vivo of artificially full-thickness-damaged articular rabbit cartilage. The suspensions of chondrocytes in alginate were gelled by the addition of calcium chloride solution directly into the defects giving in situ a construct perfectly inserted and adherent to the subchondral bone and to the walls of intact cartilage. The tissue repair was controlled at 1, 2, 4 and 6 months after the implant by NMR microscopy, synchrotron radiation induced X-ray emission to map the sulfur of glycosaminoglycans and by histochemistry. Practically a complete repair of the defect was observed 4-6 months from the implant of the chondrocytes with the recovery of a normal tissue structure. Controls in which Ca-alginate alone was implanted developed only a fibrous cartilage.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biochimica, Biofisica e Chimica delle Macromolecole, Università di Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fragonas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valente
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pozzi-Mucelli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Toffanin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Silvestri
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vittur
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000637:transplantation*; D005782:Gels; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008422:Materials Testing; D011817:Rabbits; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005782:Gels