Peritoneum and omentum are natural reservoirs for chondrocytes of osteochondral autografts: A comparative animal study

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the omentum, peritoneum, paratenon and skeletal muscle on the proliferation of the cartilage tissue using rabbit model as an in vivoculture medium.Methods: 6 months old forty-Şve New Zealand rabbits were randomized into omentum, peritoneum,muscle, and Achilles paratenon groups. Standard sized osteochondral grafts were harvested from rightknees and immediately placed into the speciŞed tissues. Control group was fresh cartilage at the end offollow-up. AfterŞve months, samples were collected and evaluated macroscopically by measuring theirdimensions (vertical¼ D1, horizontal ¼ D2, and depth ¼ D3) and volumes, and histologically by countingthe chondrocyte number using camera lucida method.Results: Macroscopically, increase in mean values for D1 and D2 dimensions of specimens from paratenon and omentum compared to pretransplant dimensions was statistically signiŞcant (p < 0.05).Although, volume measurements were higher in omentum and peritoneum group compared to pretransplant dimensions, increase was not signiŞcant (p > 0.05). Histologically, mean chondrocyte countwas 14.0± 0.6 in fresh articular cartilage. Mean chondrocyte counts were 14.4 ± 0.9 in omentum group,15.4± 1.0 in peritoneum group, 9.7 ± 1.3 in muscle group and 9.2 ± 0.4 in Achilles paratenon grouprespectively. However, mean chondrocyte counts were higher in samples of omentum and peritoneumgroup compared to fresh articular cartilage, increase was not statistically signiŞcant (p > 0.05).Discussion: Transplantation of the cartilage grafts into mesothelium enhanced the chondrocyte countsand volumes compared with the pretransplant measurements. Mesothelium may have the potential tobe used as an in vivo culture medium for osteochondral tissue growth.© 2016 Turkish Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This isan open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).