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Extraskeletal chondroma comprises synovial chondromatosis, intracapsular chondroma and soft tissue chondroma, its presentation in the hand, however, is very rare. A 42-year-old woman presented with a mass around right fourth metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint. She had no pain or discomfort in activities. The radiographs showed soft tissue swelling, but no calcification or ossifying lesions. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a lobulated juxta-cortical encircling mass existing around the fourth MCP joint. We did not suspect any cartilage-forming tumour in MRI. The mass was easily removed because there was no adhesion with surrounding tissues and the specimen had the appearance of a cartilage. The histological diagnosis was chondroma. Based on the tumour location and histological results, we diagnosed it as intracapsular chondroma. Although intracapsular chondroma is very rare-ly seen in the hands, it is important to consider an intracapsular chondroma when differentiating a tumour in the hand because it is difficult to diagnose one in an imaging examination.

Level of Evidence: Level V (Therapeutic)

Medicinal herbs have been effectively used for their anti-inflammatory activity, but their exact role has not yet been documented in scientific literature for the management of Osteoarthritis (OA). Since Sida cordifolia L., Piper longum L., Zingiber officinale Rosc., Ricinus communis L., Vitex negundo L. and Tribulus terrestris L. have been widely used in traditional medicine for their anti-inflammatory activity, to evaluate anti-osteoarthritic activity of these herbs, we used a collagenase type II-induced osteoarthritis (CIOA) rat model. Arthritis was induced in wistar rats by intra-articular injection of collagenase type II. Powders of herbs were given orally for 20 days as a suspension in water (270 mg/kg b. wt.). The effects of the treatment in the rats were monitored by physiological parameters like body weight, knee diameter, paw retraction, paw volume, glycosaminoglycan (GAG) release, radiography and histopathology of knee joint. Selected herbs have significantly prevented body weight loss and knee swelling compared to arthritic control (CIOA). All test groups, including indomethacin (standard drug, 3 mg/kg), significantly reduced paw volume compared to CIOA. GAG release in the serum was significantly lowered in herb treated groups compared to indomethacin. The anterior posterior radiographs of S. cordifolia and P. longum treated groups showed a protective effect against OA. Histopathology revealed protection in the structure of the articular cartilage and in chondrocyte pathology as well as reduced clefting. Treatment with herbs has shown chondroid matrix within normal limits. From the results, we observed that S. cordifolia and P. longum possess potent anti-osteoarthritic activity.

Articular cartilage is a vital component of human knee joints by providing a low-friction and wear-resistant surface in knee joints and distributing stresses to tibia. The degeneration or damage of articular cartilage will incur acute pain on the human knee joints. Hence, to understand the mechanism of normal and pathological functions of articular cartilage, it is very important to investigate the contact mechanics of the human knee joints. Experimental research has difficulties in reproducing the physiological conditions of daily activities and measuring the key factors such as contact-stress distributions inside knee joint without violating the physiological environment. On the other hand, numerical approaches such as finite element (FE) analysis provide a powerful tool in the biomechanics study of the human knee joint. This article presents a two-dimensional (2D) FE model of the human knee joints that includes the femur, tibia, patella, quadriceps, patellar tendon, and cartilages. The model is analyzed with dynamic loadings to study stress distribution in the tibia and contact area during contact with or without articular cartilage. The results obtained in this article are very helpful to find the pathological mechanism of knee joint degeneration or damage, and thus guide the therapy of knee illness and artificial joint replacement.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the glycoconjugate (GC) changes in articular cartilage in the ankle of an arthritic model. Arthritis was induced by an intraplantar injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) into the hindpaw of male Sprague-Dawley rats. Bilateral EA stimulation at 2 Hz, 15 Hz and 120 Hz was applied at those acupoints corresponding to Zusanli and Sanyinjiao in man, using needles for 3-day intervals for 30 days. To determine the presence of arthritis, paw edema was measured by a water displacement plethysmometer. Edema of the hindpaw induced by CFA-injection was strongly inhibited by EA stimulation throughout the experimental period. At 30 days after CFA-injection, GC changes of articular cartilage of the ankle joint were observed using conventional and lectin histochemistry. The CFA-injected rat revealed general reduction of staining abilities and lectin affinities for GC in comparison with normal rats. Significant reductions of neutral and acidic GC were observed in interterritorial matrix and chondrocyte capsules, respectively. All lectin affinities examined except DBA were also decreased in CFA-injected rats compared to normal ones. However, EA-treated rats, showed similar staining patterns and lectin affinities for GC as to normal ones, especially neutral GC in interterritorial matrix and sWGA and RCA-1 affinities in chondrocytes. It is concluded that EA in all frequencies examined, especially 2 Hz, can attenuate inflammatory edema in CFA-injected rats through alleviation of alterations of GC components in articular cartilage.

Solute transport in biological tissues is a fundamental process of supplying nutrients to tissue cells. Due to the avascular nature of cartilage, nutrients have to diffuse into the tissue to exert their biological effects. Whilst significant research efforts have been made over last decade towards understanding the solute transport behavior within the cartilage, the effect of dynamic loading on the transport process is still not fully understood. By treating cartilage as a homogeneous tissue, recent theoretical studies generally indicate that physiologically relevant mechanical loading could potentially enhance solute uptake in cartilage. However, like most biological tissues, articular cartilage is actually an inhomogeneous tissue with direction-dependent mechanical properties (such as aggregate modulus and hydraulic permeability). The inhomogeneity of tissue mechanical properties may have considerable influence on solute transport, and thereby need critical investigation. Using an engineering approach, a quantitative theoretical model has been developed in this study to investigate the solute transport behavior in cartilage in consideration of its material inhomogeneity. Using a cylindrical cartilage disk undergoing unconfined cyclic deformation as a case study, the model results demonstrate that inhomogeneous cartilage properties could potentially influence the magnitude and profile of interstitial fluid velocity and pressure throughout the cartilage. Furthermore, the enhancement of solute transport by dynamic loading is depth-dependent due to the inhomogeneous distribution of material properties.

Bone or cartilage cells are essentially colorless, and it is difficult to distinguish their morphologies under a light microscope. To better visualize these structures, various staining techniques have been developed; due to page constraints, we will only describe the most common methods for readers. These staining assays include hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain, used for general histology of the cell; Safranin O stain, used for the cartilage; and von Kossa and van Gieson stains as well as modified Goldner's trichrome stain, used for nondecalcified tissues.

Conventional histological assessment of tissue requires the removal of tissue from its physiological environment for pathological processing. In this study we report on the development and application of a laser scanning confocal arthroscope (LSCA) capable of in situ histological assessment by confocal microscopy.

The knee joints of three euthanasied adult Merino sheep were imaged using the LSCA and a combination of fluorescent contrasting agents. LSCA images of various tissues were examined for common histological characteristics.

The confocal histology images from the ovine knee acquired during the course of our study illustrated some of the major histological features of chondral and connective tissues.

Our study demonstrates the efficacy of the LSCA for the histological assessment of the chondral and connective tissues of the ovine knee. The LSCA provides an easy and rapid method for assessing the in situ structure of cartilage, muscle, tendon, ligament, meniscus and synovium in their native and unaltered physiological environment. By obviating the need for mechanical biopsy, the LSCA provides a method for the non-destructive assessment of the chondral and connective tissues of the knee, and may be of great benefit in the investigation of orthopedic diseases or in the assessment of newly emerging cartilage repair techniques.

The aim of this study is to investigate the structure and the collagen matrix of the superficial zone of articular cartilage using a 3D imaging technique. The split line thought to represent the orientation of the collagen fibres in the superficial zone was found using Hultkrantz's method. A semitransparent membrane was physically peeled off from the most superficial surface of bovine articular cartilage. Using fibre optic laser scanning confocal microscopy, the collagen matrix in normal cartilage, the membrane and the cartilage with the membrane peeled off were studied. The superficial zone was found to contain a more sophisticated 3D collagenous matrix than previously reported. The collagen matrix in the membrane consists of interwoven long collagen bundles, and the collagen fibres immediately subjacent to it align spatially in a predominantly oblique direction to the articular surface. The split line does not represent the orientation of the collagen in the membrane. This study presents a 3D visualization technique for a minimal-invasive examination of the 3D architecture of the collagen fibres in the superficial zone of articular cartilage, and offers a new insight into the 3D structure of the collagen matrix in the superficial zone of native cartilage.

The objective of this study is to analyze the effects and benefits of subtotal synovectomy in the early stage of septic arthritis. seventy rabbits with septic arthritis of the left knee joint were treated at 24 or 72 hours after inoculation of Staphylococcus aureus, with different treatment modalities, including antibiotic therapy, arthrotomy, irrigation, and synovectomy. At the end of the 6th week, the knee joints were removed and examined both macroscopically and histologically. It was discovered that there was more significant degeneration at the articular surface of the femur than that of the tibia. antibiotic therapy alone was found to be insufficient to prevent the degeneration of articular cartilage. performing subtotal synovectomy had no statistically significant effect 24 hours after the inoculation of bacteria. However, adding subtotal synovectomy to the surgical drainage 72 hours after inoculation resulted in significantly lesser degeneration of the articular cartilage. Sufficient drainage and irrigation of the joint associated with antibiotic treatment seems to be an adequate choice of treatment at the very early stage of septic arthritis. However, in established septic arthritis, adding subtotal synovectomy to the surgical drainage resulted in significantly lesser degeneration of the articular cartilage.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attachment and proliferation of cells on selective laser-sintered (SLS) polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds coated with gelatin for cartilage tissue engineering using chondrocytes isolated from the articular cartilage of swine. Scaffolds without modification were used as control groups. Cell proliferation was measured by cell count 1, 3 and 5 days after cell seeding into the scaffolds. The biocompatibility of the scaffold was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The PCL scaffolds coated with gelatin had higher hydrophilicity. The results provided a useful strategy for modifying the microenvironments to increase cell attachment, growth and the formation of extracellular matrix on scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering.

Native subject-specific knee geometries are usually based on CT and MRI images reconstruction. Unfortunately, while the definition of bone geometries using CTs is quite consistent, MRIs are often hardly readable, due to the usual lower resolution, and the final shape of cartilage and menisci is not consequently detailed enough. Moreover, further smoothing techniques, necessary to efficiently use these structures for numerical modeling, could result in bad interfaces and/or geometry inaccuracies. In this study a CAD-based approach to generate 3D cartilages and menisci geometries, avoiding the use of MRIs, was proposed and tested versus the traditional methods that use MRIs segmentation. The femoral, tibial and patellar cartilage layers were generated as offset from the bone geometries, the menisci were obtained by an extrusion based on tibia borders. Such geometries were compared to the reconstructions obtained from MRIs of healthy knee specimens. Overlapping the resulting geometries with the ones traditionally reconstructed, volumes differ from 2% to 14%. By using the new methodology, the geometries are obtained in 75% less time. The CAD-based methods shown in this pilot study is able to generate faster and accurate subject-specific knee cartilage layers and menisci geometries and can be suitable to be applied for numerical modeling.

Maintenance of differentiated functional phenotype within in vitro chondrocyte culture requires seeding at high densities with large numbers of cells. However, optimal cell seeding numbers and densities remain elusive due to multiple varying parameters and different methodologies utilized in previous studies. In the current study, we tried to investigate the relationship between cell seeding number and differentiated functional phenotype of in vitro cultured chondrocytes. Varying numbers of primary porcine chondrocytes (0.25, 2.5, 25 and 250 K) were seeded in 96 well-plates and cultured for 4 weeks. Cell proliferation, glycosaminoglycan (GAG) production and gene expression levels of Sox9, aggrecan, COL II and COL I were evaluated. The results showed that GAG content was high in the 0.25 and 25 K groups, gene expression of Sox9 was high in the 2.5, 25 and 250 K groups and expression of COL II was high in the 25 K group, whereas expression of COL I was low in the 0.25, 25 and 250 K groups. It is concluded that the seeding number and density of the 25 K (78 K cells/cm²) group achieved the optimal balance between functional phenotype of individual cells and the total ECM production for in vitro cultured chondrocytes.

Experiments on the transport of radiolabeled Insulin-like Growth Factors (IGF-I and -II) into bovine articular cartilage show differential uptake depending on the relative proportion of IGF-I and -II. In this study, we present a mathematical model describing both the transport and competition of IGF-I and -II for binding sites represented by two functional groupings of IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs). The first grouping has approximately similar binding affinity to both IGF-I and -II (i.e. IGFBPs 1–5), whereas the second group has significantly higher binding preference for IGF-II compared to IGF-I (i.e. IGFBP-6). Using nonlinear least squares, it is shown that the experimental equilibrium competitive binding results can be described using a reversible Langmuir sorption isotherm involving two dominant IGFBP functional groups.

After coupling the sorption model with a poromechanical continuum model, parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effect of model changes including IGF boundary conditions and the ratios of the two IGFBP functional groups. The results show that ignoring competitive binding leads to a significant overestimation of total IGF-I uptake, but an underestimation the rate of "free" (physiologically active) IGF-I within the cartilage. An increase of first group of IGFBPs (i.e. IGFBPs 1–5) as has been reported for osteoarthritis, is observed to hinder the bioavailability of free IGF-I in cartilage, even though the total IGF-I uptake is enhanced. Furthermore, the combination of dynamic compression and competitive binding is seen to enhance the IGF-I uptake within cartilage, but this enhancement is overestimated if competitive binding is neglected.

The articular cartilage in the human knee plays an important role to ensure a lifetime knee function for an individual. Due to damage of the cartilage in the knee, the coefficient of friction (COF) increases even after treatments for the cartilage, due to the poor self-healing ability of the cartilage, resulting in decreased knee life. As the mechanism of the function of the knee joint is similar to a bearing, a model based on the regression model of cylindrical bearing life has been developed. The model is used to evaluate the effect of the COF on the lifetime of the knee. The results show the correlation between the life of the knee and the COF of the knee cartilage. The knee lifetime depends on the ratio of the COF of the healthy cartilage to the damaged cartilage. The results demonstrate the effect of the COF on the knee lifetime, which is an exponential decrease in the life of the knee for both males and females.

Cartilage defects remain one of the most challenging musculoskeletal tissues to treat owing to its poor healing capacity. The lack of sufficient clinical treatments has led to a drive in tissue engineering advancements that combine chondrogenic cells with scaffolds to aid in cartilage regeneration. Nanoscale materials are commonly used in scaffold synthesis because of their ability to mimic the size of extracellular matrix (ECM). This review focuses on the use of nanostructured scaffolds in combination with cells for cartilage tissue engineering. We detail the fabrication methods and materials used to produce nanostructured scaffolds, with a focus on nanofibers and their role in modulating cell biology. Lastly, we discuss various techniques that further functionalize the nanostructured scaffolds to enhance cellular responses.

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) based nanocompounds have recently emerged as viable compounds to make totally synthetic biocompatible tissue substitutes for use in the clinical arena. Here, we report on the use of three POSS based compounds to develop bionanohybrid scaffolds composed primarily of purified Type II collagen. The bionanohybrid scaffolds were prepared by blending purified Type II collagen with octa maleamic acid POSS, octa ammonium POSS, or polyethylene glycol POSS. We were able to differentially detect the presence of the different POSS compounds in the bionanohybrid scaffolds using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transformed infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) characterized the effect of the hydrophilic POSS additives on the thermal behavior of the bionanohybrid scaffolds. Next, scanning electron microscopy revealed that different POSS compounds enhanced, refined, or altered the three-dimensional scaffold microstructure. Finally, by using these scaffolds to create three-dimensional tissue constructs, we measured the ability of human foreskin fibroblasts to migrate out and proliferate into the biomaterials. Our data suggest that POSS can be incorporated with native polymeric structural proteins to influence biomaterial architecture where cells can migrate and proliferate.

Mineralization of the cartilage matrix in embryonic long bones and growth plates is preceded by hypertrophy of chondrocytes. We hypothesize that the swollen hypertrophic cells exert pressure on the matrix, and that this pressure plays a role in the cartilage mineralization process. For this study, we asked the following questions. First, does the ratio of cell volume to matrix volume (CV/MV) increase from the proliferation to the hypertrophic zone in embryonic long bones? Second, is there a correlation between cell-volume increase and the mineralization rate in embryonic and postnatal long bones? The CV/MV ratios in the proliferation and hypertrophic zones in embryonic mouse metatarsals at 17 days of gestational age were determined using morphometric analyses. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to determine chondrocyte volumes. Cell volumes in the proliferation and hypertrophic zones of embryonic mouse metatarsals at 17 days of gestational age were compared to the ones in the metatarsal growth plates of nine-day-old mice. The mineralization rate was determined using photographs at 24-hour intervals. The CV/MV increased significantly from the proliferation to the hypertrophic zone, from 1.30±0.15 (mean ± standard deviation) to 1.80±0.18. The relative increase in cell volume from the proliferation to the hypertrophic zone was 1.6 for embryonic cells, i.e. from 370±101 mm³ to 610±107 mm³, and 2.8 for postnatal cells, i.e. from 280±41 mm³ to 786±155 mm³(p<0.05). The mineralization rate was 295±47mm/24 hours and 382±149 mm/24 hours for embryonic and postnatal metatarsals, respectively (p<0.05). The finding that chondrocyte volume increase is accompanied by a higher mineralization rate supports the hypothesis that cell hypertrophy plays an important role during the mineralization process.

The article is about the tissue engineering research done in China. It discusses various aspects of tissue engineering in China including engineered bones, cartilage, skin, corneal stroma and blood vessels.

The article is about the tissue engineering laboratory in Malaysia. It touches on six areas of bioengineering, namely: skin, cartilage, bone, respiratory epithelium, stem cells and biomaterials.

AUSTRALIA – Australia's First Full Genome Project to be Conducted on Corals.

AUSTRALIA – Scientists May have Discovered New Potential Cure for Cancer.

AUSTRALIA – First Genetically-engineered Malaria Vaccine To Enter Human Trials.

CHINA – Lead Poisoning Sickens 600 Kids in China.

CHINA – Groundbreaking Treatment for Oxygen-deprived Newborns.

CHINA – China Builds First Heavy Ion Therapy Center for Cancer Patients.

CHINA – Creating Live Mice from Skin Cells.

INDIA – Human Clinical Trial in 2010 for Needle-free Measles Vaccination.

INDIA – Indian Wonder Herb can Treat Male Infertility.

JAPAN – Flood Resistant High-yield Rice Developed.

SINGAPORE – Minimally Invasive Option for Knee Cartilage Repair.

SINGAPORE – Novel Immunization Method for Malaria Offers Insights into Human Anti-Malaria Immune Response.

TAIWAN – Taiwan Researchers Identify Sites of Breast Cancer Genes.

TAIWAN – Taiwanese Researchers Develop Cell Therapy For Immunodeficiency.

TAIWAN – Remote Healthcare Services for High-risk Patients.

TAIWAN – Marine-derived Compounds Holds New Treatment Premise for Neuropathic Pain.

OTHER REGIONS — UNITED STATES – New No-needle Approach to Prevent Blood Clots.