The remodelling process of allogeneic and autogenous patellar tendon grafts in rats: a radiochemical study

In order to study the remodelling of collagen fibres of transplanted tendons, one-half of the patellar tendon of the knee in 54 rats was replaced with a radioisotope (3H-proline)-labelled patellar tendon procured from a donor rat. Three transplantation models were used in this study: fresh-frozen allograft, fresh-frozen autograft (fresh-frozen isograft), and fresh autograft (fresh isograft). The percentage of old collagen was calculated as an indicator of collagen turnover from the amount of hydroxyproline and the radioactivity level of 3H-hydroxyproline in the transplanted tendons at 4, 12 and 24 weeks postoperatively. Histological evaluation was also performed at 2, 4, 12 and 24 weeks. At 4 weeks, the percentage of old collagen in the grafts from the fresh-frozen allograft group was significantly lower than in the autograft groups (20% vs. 48%). Although the percentage of old collagen in the fresh-frozen autograft group had decreased to the same level as in the fresh-frozen allograft group by 12 weeks (approximately 10%), the value was still high in the fresh autograft group at 12 weeks and remained higher (38%). Histologically, at 2 weeks, the cellularity in the fresh-frozen allograft was higher than in the fresh-frozen autograft. After 4 weeks, however, no significant difference was found between these two groups. In the fresh autograft group, the cellularity was lower than in the fresh-frozen groups at all times. In conclusion, the collagen turnover rate in the fresh-frozen allograft was the most rapid of the three transplantation models based on hydroxyproline turnover.