Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026
Matrix-assisted Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation for Remodeling and Repair of Chondral Defects in a Rabbit Model
Published on: May 21, 2013
Cell-based therapy for meniscal repair: a large animal study
Giuseppe M Peretti1, Thomas J Gill, Jian-Wei Xu
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
Background:
The avascular portion of the meniscus cartilage in the knee does not have the ability to repair spontaneously.
Hypothesis:
Cell-based therapy is able to repair a lesion in the swine meniscus.
Study Design:
Controlled laboratory study.
Methods:
Sixteen Yorkshire pigs were divided into four groups. A longitudinal tear was produced in the avascular portion of the left medial meniscus of 4 pigs. Autologous chondrocytes were seeded onto devitalized allogenic meniscal slices and were secured inside the lesion with two sutures. Identical incisions were created in 12 other pigs, which were used as three separate control groups: 4 animals treated with an unseeded scaffold, 4 were simply sutured, and 4 were left untreated. Meniscal samples were collected after 9 weeks, and the samples were analyzed grossly, histologically, and histomorphometrically.
Results:
Gross results showed bonding of the lesion margins in the specimens of the experimental group, whereas no repair was noted in any of the control group specimens. Histological and histomorphometrical analysis showed multiple areas of healing in the specimens of the experimental group.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrated the ability of seeded chondrocytes to heal a meniscal tear.
Clinical Relevance:
Cell-based therapy could be a potential tool for avascular meniscus repair.
