In-situ-forming hydrogels for articular cartilage repair

• Main Authors: Francisco Rodríguez-Fontán, Cecilia Pascual-Garrido
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Asociacion Argentina de Ortopedia y Traumatologia 2019-08-01
• Series: Revista de la Asociación Argentina de Ortopedia y Traumatologia
• Subjects: Lesiones condrales focales; artrosis; hidrogeles; bioimpresión; regeneración; células madre. Focal chondral lesions; osteoarthritis; hydrogels; bioprinting; regeneration; stem cells.
• Online Access: https://ojs.aaot.org.ar/ojsr/index.php/AAOTMAG/article/view/956
• ISSN: 1515-1786; 1852-7434

A significant number of young active adults are affected by focal chondral lesions. These lesions, if left untreated, will progress to osteoarthritis (OA). OA is one of the main debilitating musculoskeletal diseases and leads to a high economic and social burden. Despite surgical cartilage repair for focal chondral lesions, which improve patient-reported outcomes at short- and mid-term, there is a risk of early OA progression. Biological treatments (i.e., stem-cell therapy, bioengineering) have made great progress in the last years. Tissue engineering is an evolving field for articular cartilage repair which could potentially be used for the treatment of focal chondral lesions, promoting regeneration and preventing joint surface degeneration. Stem cells and hydrogels may provide a functional, dynamic and biologically equivalent tissue that promotes tissue regeneration while being gradually degraded and replaced. The standard approach to tissue engineering consists in delivering cells within a hydrogel or a three-dimensional printed biomaterial scaffold into the chondral lesion to induce regeneration. This review focuses on the current and future use of hydrogels and tissue scaffold bioprinting for the treatment of focal chondral lesions, and provides preliminary data from two pilot animal studies.