Abstract
Meniscus has many important functions in the knee joint such as load bearing, shock absorption, joint stability, joint lubrication and proprioception. In the recent years, meniscus injuries have been the focus of orthopaedic surgeons and musculoskeletal tissue engineering applications because of its avascular nature.
In this study, we aimed to compare the regeneration capacities of two composite scaffolds in a New Zealand Rabbit meniscal defect model. The first scaffold consists Poly-Lactic Acid (PLA) + chitosan + loofah and the second PLA + Hydroxyapatite (HAp) + loofah. In order to produce these scaffolds; 4% chitosan, 4% PLA and 4% HAp solutions were seperately prepared. The loofah pieces were saturated with these solutions and vacuum-dried for 14 days and sterilized with ethylene oxide.
There were several characterizations performed such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) for the investigation of chemical structure, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for morphological analysis, thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) for thermal properties, mechanical compression and swelling ratio analysis. Moreover, in order to investigate biocompatibility of the scaffolds, WST-1 colorimetric assay at days 3, 7, 10, 14 and 21 was conducted.
After these biocompatibility analysis, a 1.5-mm cylindrical defect was created in the avascular portion of the anterior horn of the medial meniscus in 14 New Zealand rabbits (2.5–3 kg weight) which were randomly grouped in two. The scaffolds were implanted at the defect site with the help of a freshly prepared fibrin glue. 8 weeks after the operation, the rabbits were sacrificed and their tissues were kept for further mechanical, radiological and histological analysis.
In conclusion, we succeeded to produce a new meniscus scaffold. The proliferation ability of PLA + chitosan + loofah scaffold is higher than PLA + HAp + loofah scaffold. However, there was no statistically significant difference among them.
