Osteochondral defects are often accompanied by excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by osteoarthritis or acute surgical inflammation. An inflammatory environment containing excess ROS will not only hinder tissue regeneration but also impact the quality of newly formed tissues. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop scaffolds with both ROS scavenging and osteochondral repair functions to promote and protect osteochondral tissue regeneration. In this work, by using 3D printing technology, a composite scaffold based on cobalt-incorporated chloroapatite (Co-ClAP) bioceramics, which possesses ROS-scavenging activity and can support cell proliferation, adhesion, and differentiation, is developed. Benefiting from the catalytic activity of Co-ClAP bioceramics, the composite scaffold can protect cells from oxidative damage under ROS-excessive conditions, support their directional differentiation, and simultaneously mediate an anti-inflammatory microenvironment. In addition, it is also confirmed by using rabbit osteochondral defect model that the Co-ClAP/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) scaffold can effectively promote the integrated regeneration of cartilage and subchondral bone, exhibiting an ideal repair effect in vivo. This study provides a promising strategy for the treatment of defects with excess ROS and inflammatory microenvironments.
Keywords: 3D printing; bioceramic scaffolds; osteochondral regeneration; reactive oxygen species.
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