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Adipose-derived stem cells and rabbit bone regeneration: histomorphometric, immunohistochemical and mechanical characterization

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Orthopaedic Science

Abstract

Background

In the last few years, several attempts have been made to treat large bone loss, including the use of tissue engineering with osteoinductive scaffolds and cells. This study highlights the role of mesenchymal stem cells from adipose tissue (ASCs; adipose-derived stem cells) in a rabbit bone regeneration model.

Methods

We compared the neoformed bone tissues achieved by treating critical tibial defects with either hydroxyapatite alone (HA, group I) or hydroxyapatite–autologous ASC constructs (ASCs-HA, group II), investigating their histomorphometric, immunohistochemical and biomechanical properties.

Results

After eight weeks of follow-up, we observed advanced maturation and a spatial distribution of new bone that was more homogeneous in the inner parts of the pores in group II, not just along the walls (as seen in group I). The new tissue expressed osteogenic markers, and biomechanical tests suggested that the newly formed bone in group II had a higher mineral content than that in group I. Although variability in differentiation was observed among the different cell populations in vitro, no differences in bone healing were observed in vivo; the variability seen in vitro was probably due to local microenvironment effects.

Conclusions

Tibial defects treated with rabbit ASCs-HA showed an improved healing process when compared to the process that occurred when only the scaffold was used. We suggest that implanted ASCs ameliorate the bone reparative process either directly or by recruiting resident progenitor cells.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are sincerely grateful to Dr. A. Addis, Mr. P. Stortini, and Dr. A. Maragno for their precious work, and to Finceramica S.p.A. (Faenza, Italy) for the appropriately designed scaffolds. This work was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health (2007-656853) and a university grant (FIRST-2008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical, Surgical, Dental Sciences, University of Milan, Via Vanvitelli, 32, 20129, Milan, Italy

    Elena Arrigoni, Deborah Stanco, Claudia Dellavia & Anna T. Brini

  2. IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute, Via Galeazzi, 4, 20161, Milan, Italy

    Laura de Girolamo & Anna T. Brini

  3. Department of Veterinary Sciences and Technologies for Food Safety, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Alessia Di Giancamillo & Cinzia Domeneghini

  4. LaBS, Laboratory of Biological Structure Mechanics, Structural Engineering Department, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Davide Carnelli

  5. Central Facility, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Marino Campagnol

Authors
  1. Elena Arrigoni
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  2. Laura de Girolamo
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  3. Alessia Di Giancamillo
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  4. Deborah Stanco
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  5. Claudia Dellavia
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  6. Davide Carnelli
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  7. Marino Campagnol
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  8. Cinzia Domeneghini
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  9. Anna T. Brini
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna T. Brini.

Additional information

E. Arrigoni and L. de Girolamo contributed equally to this work.

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Arrigoni, E., de Girolamo, L., Di Giancamillo, A. et al. Adipose-derived stem cells and rabbit bone regeneration: histomorphometric, immunohistochemical and mechanical characterization. J Orthop Sci 18, 331–339 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00776-012-0349-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00776-012-0349-y

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