Amir Sotoudeh, Gholam Reza Abedi, Masoud Soleimani, Mohammad Reza Aflatoonian, Amirali Jahanshahi, and Mohammad Ashrafzadeh
Nanofiber, Tissue engineering, Scaffold, Electrospining, Repair, Stifle
In tissue engineering, biodegradable scaffold is designed to protect newly formed tissue in its early stages. This study evaluates the potential of Collagen-poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) biodegradable nanofibrous scaffolds, to cartilage tissue engineering. Nanofibrous scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning. A full-thickness defect of diameter 4 mm and depth 3 mm on the articular cartilage was made in the both stifle joints of ten rabbits. . In group I the Collagen-PVA scaffold was implanted into the right stifle and in the left stifle, the defect was left without any treatment as the control group (group II). Specimens were harvested at 12 weeks after implantation; Regenerated tissues were evaluated grossly and histologically. The hyaline repair was more obvious in group I which filled with white translucent cartilage tissue which appeared tenacious and ill-demarcated from the surrounding normal cartilage. But the surface and integration of the newly formed cartilage plug with host cartilage was not very well. The percentage of hyaline-appearing cartilage in the repair was better with Collagen-PVA scaffold implants. This study showed better results of articular cartilage reconstruction by means of a biodegradable scaffold. It also renders these devices excellent vehicles for chondrocyte or stem cell transplantation.
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