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Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Treatment of Osteochondral Defects in the Rabbit's Knee Joint by Implantation of Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Fibrin Clots
Published on: May 21, 2013
Successful Vitrification of Human Osteochondral Dowels and Intact Femoral Condyle
Mohammadhamed Shahsavari1, Shannon Clark2, Janet A W Elliott2,3
1Department of Surgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Abstract:
ObjectiveCryopreservation via vitrification of articular cartilage (AC) will increase the availability of graft tissue for treating large joint defects. To advance this research area, we compared the effects of 2 cryopreservation protocols in which 10-mm diameter human osteochondral dowels were cooled and stored in liquid nitrogen vapor.DesignDowels collected from healthy human knee joints (n = 3 donors) of deceased donors were randomly assigned to Protocol 8 (430 min) or Protocol 2BWF (410 min). Post-warming chondrocyte viability was assessed and normalized to fresh controls.ResultsBoth protocols resulted in high chondrocyte viability after loading, vitrification, and rewarming (~80% of fresh control). Protocol 2BWF was subsequently used to vitrify and rewarm 3 human intact lateral femoral condyles. After rewarming, metabolic activity, normalized chondrocyte viability, histology, and matrix productivity were experimentally measured. Results documented ~82% of fresh chondrocyte viability post vitrification and rewarming, with similar results to the fresh control group on the other AC quality criteria.ConclusionThese results demonstrate that both Protocol 8 and Protocol 2BWF can preserve the quality of vitrified human AC in osteochondral dowels and human intact femoral condyles.
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