Purpose: To evaluate the treatment results of intraarticular injection according to the frequency of hyaluronic acid with mesenchymal stem cells on the osteochondral defect of rabbits' medial femoral condyles.
Materials and methods: A 5 mm diameter and 4 mm depth osteochondral defect was made on the medial femoral condyles of 18 rabbits, divided into six groups. One week after osteochondral defect, group B was injected intraarticularly with hyaluronic acid (HA), group C with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and group D, E and F with both HA and MSCs. Group E and F received second HA injection a week after. Further, group F received third HA injection in the third week.
Results: In a macroscopic evaluation, groups B (6; range, 5-8), C (6; range, 6-7), D (7; range, 6-7), E (6.5; range, 6-8) and F (7.5; range, 6-8) showed statistically significant improvements in osteochondral defect healing, compared with that of group A (4; range, 3-5) (p=0.002). In histological evaluation, groups B (11.5; range, 11-13), C (13; range, 12-18), D (16; range, 13-18), E (17.5; range, 13-20), and F (19.5; range, 12-22) showed statistically significant differences in osteochondral defect healing, compared with group A (8; range, 6-9) (p=0.006).
Conclusions: The intraarticular injections of MSCs or HA can play an effective role during the healing osteochondral defects in rabbits.
Keywords: Hyaluronic acid; Mesenchymal stem cell; Osteochondral defect; Rabbit.