chondroitin and Cadaver

Ideally, cartilage regenerative cell therapy should produce a tissue which closely matches the microstructure of native cartilage. Benchmark reference information is necessary to assess the quality of engineered cartilage. Our goal was to examine the variation in glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in cartilage zones within human knee joints of different ages.. Osteochondral biopsies were removed from the medial femoral condyles of deceased persons aged 20-50 years. Fluorophore-Assisted Carbohydrate Electrophoresis (FACE) was used to profile GAGs through the superficial, middle and deep zones of the articular cartilage. Differences were identified by statistical analysis.. Cartilage from the younger biopsies had 4-fold more hyaluronan in the middle zone than cartilage from the older biopsies. The proportion of hyaluronan decreased with increasing age. Cartilage from the middle and deep zones of younger biopsies had significantly more chondroitin sulphate and keratan sulphate than the cartilage from older biopsies. This would suggest that chondrocytes synthesise more sulphated GAGs when deeper in the tissue and therefore in conditions of hypoxia. With increasing age, there was significantly more chondroitin-6 sulphate than chondroitin-4 sulphate. For the first time, unsulphated chondroitin was detected in the superficial zone.. As an outcome measure, FACE offers the potential of a complete, detailed assessment of all GAGs and offers more information that the widely used 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue (DMMB) dye assay. FACE could be very useful in the evolving cartilage regeneration field.

Topics: Adult; Age Factors; Cadaver; Cartilage, Articular; Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy; Chondroitin; Chondroitin Sulfates; Electrophoresis; Glycosaminoglycans; Guided Tissue Regeneration; Humans; Hyaluronic Acid; Keratan Sulfate; Knee Joint; Middle Aged; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Reference Values; Tissue Engineering; Young Adult

To compare the acute effects of Healon (sodium hyaluronate) and Viscoat (sodium chondroitin sulfate-sodium hyaluronate) on outflow facility in human cadaver eyes and determine which viscoelastic agent is least likely to cause an intraocular pressure (IOP) spike after cataract surgery.. The Glaucoma Research Lab, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.. In this prospective paired study, 15 pairs of human cadaver eyes were used. Following the construction of a 3.0 mm scleral tunnel, 0.25 cc of Healon was injected into the anterior chamber of 1 eye and 0.25 cc of Viscoat was injected into the contralateral eye. The viscoelastic agents were removed from both eyes in a standardized fashion and the scleral tunnels closed. The eyes were then perfused at a constant IOP of 8.0 mm Hg, corresponding to 16.0 mm Hg in vivo. Outflow facility (microL/minute [min]/mm Hg) was recorded every 15 minutes for 24 hours using standard methods.. Outflow facility in the Viscoat-treated eyes decreased appreciably for the first 3 hours, then recovered somewhat after 12 hours; facility in the Healon-treated eyes showed less of an overall decrease. Over the 24 hour perfusion period, mean outflow facility was 0.037 microL/min/mm Hg +/- 0.015 (SD) in the Viscoat-treated eyes and 0.060 +/- 0.012 microL/min/mm Hg in the Healon-treated eyes. Healon reduced outflow facility significantly less than Viscoat between 3.25 and 10.50 hours postoperatively (P < .05, 2-tailed t test).. Healon reduced outflow facility less than Viscoat between 3.25 and 10.50 hours postoperatively.

Topics: Anterior Chamber; Aqueous Humor; Cadaver; Chondroitin; Chondroitin Sulfates; Drug Combinations; Female; Humans; Hyaluronic Acid; In Vitro Techniques; Injections; Intraocular Pressure; Male; Prospective Studies; Time Factors; Trabecular Meshwork

K-Sol corneal storage medium maintains corneal viability for at least ten days, compared with McCarey-Kaufman (M-K) medium, which does so for a reported maximum of three days. Since many eye banks still use M-K medium exclusively, stored corneas must be used without undue delay, and shipping time further hastens the planned surgery time. Transferring the shipped M-K medium-stored cornea to K-Sol offers a simple way of increasing storage time in our eye bank. Ninety-five out of 100 transferred corneas (95%) remained clear 3 to 18 months postoperatively. There were no primary graft failures, and transferred corneal mates were clear. A comparable series of 100 corneas stored in M-K medium alone, or in K-Sol alone, were clear in 93% and 97% of the transplants. Analysis of donor rims after keratoplasty indicated statistically significantly more endothelial cell loss during storage in corneas transferred to K-Sol compared with 18 corneas preserved only in M-K medium for a similar length of time. There was no statistical significance between the transferred group and the group preserved in only K-Sol. Transferring M-K medium stored corneas to K-Sol medium may be a useful means of extending corneal storage time, resulting in improved tissue utilization.

Topics: Cadaver; Chondroitin; Chondroitin Sulfates; Corneal Transplantation; Eye Banks; Graft Survival; Humans; Retrospective Studies; Tissue Preservation; Tissue Survival