Bonding of articular cartilage using a combination of biochemical degradation and surface cross-linking

Bonding of articular cartilage using a combination of biochemical degradation and surface cross-linking

Beschreibung

vor 17 Jahren
After trauma, articular cartilage often does not heal due to
incomplete bonding of the fractured surfaces. In this study we
investigated the ability of chemical cross-linkers to facilitate
bonding of articular cartilage, either alone or in combination with
a pre-treatment with surface-degrading agents. Articular cartilage
blocks were harvested from the femoropatellar groove of bovine
calves. Two cartilage blocks, either after pre-treatment or
without, were assembled in a custom-designed chamber in partial
apposition and subjected to cross-linking treatment. Subsequently,
bonding of cartilage was measured as adhesive strength, that is,
the maximum force at rupture of bonded cartilage blocks divided by
the overlap area. In a first approach, bonding was investigated
after treatment with cross-linking reagents only, employing
glutaraldehyde, 1-ethyl-3diaminopropyl-carbodiimide
(EDC)/N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS), genipin, or transglutaminase.
Experiments were conducted with or without compression of the
opposing surfaces. Compression during cross-linking strongly
enhanced bonding, especially when applying EDC/NHS and
glutaraldehyde. Therefore, all further experiments were performed
under compressive conditions. Combinations of each of the four
cross-linking agents with the degrading pretreatments, pepsin,
trypsin, and guanidine, led to distinct improvements in bonding
compared to the use of cross-linkers alone. The highest values of
adhesive strength were achieved employing combinations of pepsin or
guanidine with EDC/NHS, and guanidine with glutaraldehyde. The
release of extracellular matrix components, that is,
glycosaminoglycans and total collagen, from cartilage blocks after
pre-treatment was measured, but could not be directly correlated to
the determined adhesive strength. Cytotoxicity was determined for
all substances employed, that is, surface degrading agents and
cross-linkers, using the resazurin assay. Taking the favourable
cell vitality after treatment with pepsin and EDC/NHS and the
cytotoxic effects of guanidine and glutaraldehyde into account, the
combination of pepsin and EDC/NHS appeared to be the most
advantageous treatment in this study. In conclusion, bonding of
articular cartilage blocks was achieved by chemical fixation of
their surface components using cross-linking reagents. Application
of compressive forces and prior modulation of surface structures
enhanced cartilage bonding significantly. Enzymatic treatment in
combination with cross-linkers may represent a promising addition
to current techniques for articular cartilage repair.

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