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A Combinational Therapy of Articular Cartilage Defects: Rapid and Effective Regeneration by Using Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound After Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cell Transplantation

Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine volume 17, pages 313–322 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Background:

Although low-intensity pulsed ultrasound has been reported to be potential cartilage regeneration, there still unresolved treatment due to cartilage fibrosis and degeneration by a lack of rapid and high-efficiency treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a combination therapy of focused acoustic force and stem cells at site for fast and efficient healing on cartilage regeneration.

Methods:

Using a rat articular cartilage defects model, one million adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) were injected into the defect site, and low-intensity focused ultrasound (LOFUS) in the range of 100–600 mV was used for 20 min/day for 2 weeks. All experimental groups were sacrificed after 4 weeks in total. The gross appearance score and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Alcian blue, and Safranin O staining were used for measuring the chondrogenic potential. The cartilage characteristics were observed, and type II collagen, Sox 9, aggrecan, and type X collagen were stained with immunofluorescence. The results of the comprehensive analysis were calculated using the Mankin scoring method.

Results:

The gross appearance scores of regenerated cartilage and chondrocyte-like cells in H&E images were higher in LOFUS-treated groups compared to those in negative control or ASC-treated groups. Safranin O and Alcian blue staining demonstrated that the 100 and 300 mV LOFUS groups showed greater synthesis of glycosaminoglycan and proteoglycan. The ASC + LOFUS 300 mV group showed positive regulation of type II collagen, Sox 9 and aggrecan and negative regulation of type X collagen, which indicated the occurrence of cartilage regeneration based on the Mankin score result.

Conclusion:

The combination therapy, which involved treatment with ASC and 300 mV LOFUS, quickly and effectively reduced articular cartilage defects.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2017R1C1B5017159) and from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (HI18C0661).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Catholic Kwandong University, 24, Beomil-ro 579beon-gil, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, 25601, Republic of Korea

    Byeong-Wook Song

  2. International St. Mary’s Hospital, Catholic Kwandong University, 25, Simgok-ro 100beon-gil, Seo-gu, Incheon, 22711, Republic of Korea

    Jun-Hee Park, Bomi Kim, Seahyoung Lee, Soyeon Lim, Sang Woo Kim, Ki-Chul Hwang & Il-Kwon Kim

  3. Institute for Biomedical Convergence, College of Medicine, Catholic Kwandong University, 24, Beomil-ro 579beon-gil, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, 25601, Republic of Korea

    Seahyoung Lee, Soyeon Lim, Sang Woo Kim, Jung-Won Choi, Jiyun Lee, Misun Kang, Ki-Chul Hwang & Il-Kwon Kim

  4. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, International St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, Catholic Kwandong University, 25, Simgok-ro 100beon-gil, Seo-gu, Incheon, 22711, Republic of Korea

    Dong-Sik Chae

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  1. Byeong-Wook Song
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Correspondence to Dong-Sik Chae or Il-Kwon Kim.

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All animal experimental procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Catholic Kwandong University International St. Mary’s Hospital in cooperation with the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care and were performed in accordance with the Guidelines and Regulations for Animal Care (No. CKU 03-2017-001).

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Song, BW., Park, JH., Kim, B. et al. A Combinational Therapy of Articular Cartilage Defects: Rapid and Effective Regeneration by Using Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound After Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cell Transplantation. Tissue Eng Regen Med 17, 313–322 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-020-00256-6

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