Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki 23, Eiheiji, Fukui 910-1193, Japan.
Arthritis Res Ther. 2012 Feb 7;14(1):R31. doi: 10.1186/ar3735.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into various connective tissue cells. Several techniques have been used for the clinical application of MSCs in articular cartilage repair; however, there are many issues associated with the selection of the scaffold material, including its ability to support cell viability and differentiation and its retention and degradation in situ. The application of MSCs via a scaffold also requires a technically demanding surgical procedure. The aim of this study was to test the outcome of intra-articular transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells suspended in hyaluronic acid (HA) in the knee joints of Hartley strain guinea pigs with spontaneous osteoarthritis (OA).
Commercially available human MSCs were cultured, labeled with carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFDA-SE), suspended in either PBS or HA, and injected into the knee joints of 7-month-old animals. The control animals were injected with either PBS or HA alone. The animals were sacrificed at 1, 3, and 5 weeks post transplantation, the knee joints harvested, and fluorescent microscopic analysis was performed. Histological and immunohistochemical analysis were performed at 5 weeks post transplantation.
At 5 weeks post transplantation, partial cartilage repair was noted in the HA-MSC group but not in the other groups. Examination of CFDA-SE-labeled cells demonstrated migration, differentiation, and proliferation of MSC in the HA-MSC group. There was strong immunostaining for type II collagen around both residual chondrocytes and transplanted MSCs in the OA cartilage.
This scaffold-free and technically undemanding technique appears to result in the regeneration of articular cartilage in the spontaneous OA animal model. Although further examination of the long-term effects of transplantation is necessary, the findings suggest that intra-articular injection of HA-MSC mixture is potentially beneficial for OA.
间充质干细胞（MSCs）可分化为各种结缔组织细胞。已经有几种技术被用于 MSCs 在关节软骨修复中的临床应用；然而，在支架材料的选择方面存在许多问题，包括其支持细胞活力和分化的能力，以及其在原位的保留和降解。通过支架应用 MSCs 还需要技术要求高的手术过程。本研究旨在测试在患有自发性骨关节炎（OA）的 Hartley 品系豚鼠膝关节中，将悬浮于透明质酸（HA）中的间充质干细胞进行关节内移植的结果。
培养市售的人 MSCs，用羧基荧光素二乙酸琥珀酰亚胺酯（CFDA-SE）标记，悬浮于 PBS 或 HA 中，并注入 7 月龄动物的膝关节。对照动物仅注射 PBS 或 HA。在移植后 1、3 和 5 周处死动物，采集膝关节，进行荧光显微镜分析。在移植后 5 周进行组织学和免疫组织化学分析。
在移植后 5 周时，在 HA-MSC 组中观察到部分软骨修复，但在其他组中没有观察到。对 CFDA-SE 标记细胞的检查表明，在 HA-MSC 组中 MSC 发生了迁移、分化和增殖。在 OA 软骨中，残留的软骨细胞和移植的 MSC 周围均有强烈的 II 型胶原免疫染色。
这种无支架且技术要求不高的技术似乎导致了自发性 OA 动物模型中关节软骨的再生。尽管需要进一步检查移植的长期效果，但研究结果表明，HA-MSC 混合物的关节内注射可能对 OA 有益。
