title: Uninduced adipose-derived stem cells repair the defect of full-thickness hyaline cartilage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To testify the effect of the stem cells derived from the widely distributed fat tissue on repairing full-thickness hyaline cartilage defects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) were derived from adipose tissue and cultured in vitro. Twenty-seven New Zealand white rabbits were divided into three groups randomly. The cultured ADSCs mixed with calcium alginate gel were used to fill the full-thickness hyaline cartilage defects created at the patellafemoral joint, and the defects repaired with gel or without treatment served as control groups. After 4, 8 and 12 weeks, the reconstructed tissue was evaluated macroscopically and microscopically. Histological analysis and qualitative scoring were also performed to detect the outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Full thickness hyaline cartilage defects were repaired completely with ADSCs-derived tissue. The result was better in ADSCs group than the control ones. The microstructure of reconstructed tissue with ADSCs was similar to that of hyaline cartilage and contained more cells and regular matrix fibers, being better than other groups. Plenty of collagen fibers around cells could be seen under transmission electron microscopy. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference in comparison with other groups at each time point (t equal to 4.360, P less than 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that stem cells derived from mature adipose without induction possess the ability to repair cartilage defects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Joint Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Tsingtao University, Tsingtao 266003, China. zhhaining@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Hai-Ning
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leng
authors.forename: Ying-Zhen
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cheng-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lv