Meniscal repair in vivo using human chondrocyte-seeded PLGA mesh scaffold pretreated with platelet-rich plasma.

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) pretreatment on a poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) mesh scaffold enhances the healing capacity of the meniscus with human chondrocyte-seeded scaffolds in vivo, even when the seeded number of cells was reduced from 10 million to one million. A flexible PLGA mesh scaffold was pretreated with PRP using a centrifugal technique. One million human articular chondrocytes were seeded onto the scaffold by dynamic oscillation. After 7 days, scaffolds were placed between human meniscal discs and were implanted subcutaneously in nude mice for 6 weeks (n = 16/group). Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated uniform attachment of the chondrocytes throughout the scaffolds 24 h following seeding. Cell attachment analysis revealed a significantly increased number of chondrocytes on PRP-pretreated than non-treated scaffolds (p < 0.05). Field emission scanning electron microscopy revealed chondrocytes attached to the PRP-pretreated scaffolds interconnecting their cellular processes with the fibrin network at 24 h and day 7 of culture. Of the 16 constructs containing PRP-pretreated scaffolds implanted in mice, six menisci healed completely, nine healed incompletely and one did not heal. Histological results from the 16 control constructs containing non-treated scaffolds revealed that none had healed completely, four healed incompletely and 12 did not heal. The histological outcome between the groups was significantly different (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that human articular chondrocytes on PRP-pretreated PLGA mesh scaffolds demonstrate increased cell attachment and enhance the healing capacity of meniscus with a reduced number of seeding cells in a meniscal repair mouse model.