Implants composed of carbon fiber mesh and bone-marrow-derived, chondrocyte-enriched cultures for joint surface reconstruction

The current study integrates two distinct approaches in joint resurfacing into a combined type of implant, composed of carbon fiber mesh impregnated and coated with a hyaluronic-acid-based delivery substance containing cultured cells. Rabbit autogeneic chondrocyte-enriched cultures obtained from mesenchymal stem cells (chondroprogenitor cells) derived from adult rabbit bone marrow were grown in vitro under conditions favoring chondrogenesis. The improvement in quality of repair when a combined implant containing both cells and a carbon scaffold was used, in comparison to the utilization of carbon fiber mesh alone, was clearly demonstrated using clinical, histological, biochemical, and biomechanical examinations. Evaluations of the joints were performed at 6 weeks and 6 months after implantation. The repair tissue in the cell-implanted joints consisted of a typical hyaline cartilage, which was more cellular and thicker than the repair tissue in the hyaluronic-acid-impregnated carbon-fiber-implanted control joints. The hyaline cartilage in the experimental group formed a superficial layer above the carbon fibers, flush with the joint surface. In the controls, in which carbon fiber and the delivery substance alone were implanted, a histologically and biochemically fibrous tissue that was inferior biomechanically to the new cartilage was formed by the cells containing implants.