title: Chitosan scaffolds for osteochondral tissue regeneration.
abstract: A variety of biomaterials have been introduced as potential substrates for cartilage repair. One such candidate is chitosan, which shares some characteristics with glycosaminoglycan and hyaluronic acid present in articular cartilage. Depending on chitosan source and preparation procedure, variations into its properties can be attained. Thus, the aim of this article is to study and select the most adequate chitosan properties for in vivo osteochondral tissue regeneration. In this work, chitosan molecular weight, deacetylation degree, and calcium content are tested as material variable properties. According to these properties, porous scaffolds were prepared, implanted in rabbit knee osteochondral defects, and evaluated 3 months after surgery. Results show in vitro a considerable influence of the material molecular weight on the scaffold structure. In vivo, different tissue responses were observed depending on the implanted chitosan properties. Some samples showed no material degradation, multiple adverse tissue responses, and no bone/cartilage tissue formation. Other samples showed no adverse responses and bone and cartilage tissue regeneration. The chitosan with intact mineral content (17.9 wt %), lowest molecular weight (11.49 KDa), and lowest deacetylation degree (83%) shows a well structured subchondral bone and noticeable cartilaginous tissue regeneration, being it the best one of those tested for osteochondral defect regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Estudios Biofuncionales, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Ander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abarrategi
authors.forename: Yaiza
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lópiz-Morales
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Civantos
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: López-Durán
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marco
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: López-Lacomba
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000494:pharmacology; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation; D011817:Rabbits; D012038:Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D048271:Chitosan