Different effects of PLGA and chitosan scaffolds on human cartilage tissue engineering

Clinical application of the cartilage formed by tissue engineering is not practical due to the failure to maintain long-term tissue structural integrity. One of the important factors for maintaining integrity is the biomaterial for a scaffold. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the difference between poly-lactic glycolic acid (PLGA) and chitosan as scaffolds. Human auricular chondrocytes were used. Chondrocyte-scaffold complexes were implanted in nude mice and analyzed at 4, 8, 12, 16, and 24 weeks after implantation. The volume of chondrocyte-PLGA complexes decreased rapidly. The volume of chondrocyte-chitosan complexes was well maintained with a slow decrease rate. In histological findings, mature cartilage was formed by 4 weeks in the PLGA group. However, cartilage structure was hardly found after 16 weeks. In the chitosan group, mature cartilage was detected at 8 weeks and cartilage formation became more marked with time. The expression of type II collagen protein and mRNA became weaker with time in the PLGA group. However, the expression in the chitosan group was strong for the whole period. These results suggest that chitosan is a superior scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering in terms of the maintenance of structural integrity. It is expected that after some modification for more rapid chondrogenesis, chitosan scaffolds may become one of the most useful scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering.