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Published on: April 25, 2013
Effects of transforming growth factor Beta and insulinlike growth factor 1 on the biomechanical and histologic
Brian A Kaplan1, Christopher R Gorman, Atul K Gupta
1Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Virginia Medical Center, PO Box 800713, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
Objective:
To investigate the histologic and biomechanical properties of rabbit tissue-engineered cartilage exposed to insulinlike growth factor 1 and transforming growth factor beta.
Design:
Controlled study.
Subjects:
New Zealand white rabbits aged 3 to 4 weeks.
Intervention:
A mean of 3.42 million rabbit chondrocytes were placed onto 2 x 1-cm polyglycolic/poly-L-lactic acid mesh templates. One group (n = 21) was placed in complete medium for 4 days. The experimental group (n = 19) was placed into complete medium with insulinlike growth factor 1 (50 ng/mL) and transforming growth factor beta (1 ng/mL). After 96 hours the templates were removed and implanted into the dorsum of the donor rabbit. The templates were harvested after 8 weeks and subjected to gross, histologic, and biomechanical testing.
Results:
All samples showed histologic characteristics consistent with normal cartilage. No statistically significant differences were found with biomechanical testing between the control and experimental groups.
Conclusion:
In spite of more promising results from earlier studies, these results do not support improved histologic features or mechanical performance with the addition of insulinlike growth factor 1 and transforming growth factor beta to the chondrocyte/template complex.
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