The growth of chondrocytes using Gelfoam^® as a biodegradable scaffold

Successful articular cartilage resurfacing must overcome several problems: the implant must easily fit the defect, it must be stable within the defect before full incorporation of repair tissue has occurred, and the reparative tissue must closely approximate the structure of normal hyaline cartilage. To this end, several natural and synthetic components have been used, both in vivo and in vitro, to provide a scaffold. These include isolated chondrocyte allografts, intact cartilage allografts, periossteal grafts, reconstructed collagen sponges, hydrogels and carbon fibres. However, promising results have been reported using three dimensional scaffolds in culture with isolated chondrocytes with subsequent implantation. This preliminary in vitro study utilizes Gelfoam^® (a purified gelatin sponge) as such a scaffold. The biocompatibility of Gelfoam with both chondrocytes and osteoblast cells was first confirmed. The ability of chondrocytes to replicate and differentiate within Gelfoam scaffolds was assessed biochemically by measurement of the DNA content and glycosaminoglycans (GAG) production over 25 days in culture. The distribution of the cartilagenous matrix produced was observed by light microscopy, and the constituents of this matrix were assessed using specific antibodies and immunolocalization.