Hyaluronic Acid Incorporation into Scaffolds for Bone and Cartilage Regeneration - Hyaluronic Acid for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications - page 33

Cartilage Regeneration

Figure 2.4 Histological sections stained with Safranin-O, showing
GAG production and integration with the surrounding tissue
at 2 weeks (a-c) and 6 weeks (d-f), of in vivo cartilage repair of
osteochondral defects in rat knees. (a, d) Empty defects;
(b, e) defects filled with combination scaffold of HA:gelatin:PEG
without cells; (c, f) defects filled with combination scaffold of
HA:gelatin:PEG encapsulating human ESC. Scale bar = 500 µm.
Reproduced with permission from W.S. Toh, E.H. Lee, X. Guo,
J.K.Y. Chan, C.H. Yeow, A.B. Choo and T. Cao, Biomaterials ,
2010, 31 , 6968. ©2010, Elsevier [73]

2.7 Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels for Bone Regeneration

Despite a mismatch in mechanical properties, hydrogels made from
HA are seeing increasing use as scaffolds for bone regeneration, in
part because of their ability to serve as controlled release devices for
osteogenic growth factors. HA has also been combined with other
polymers or with inorganic particles to create hybrid scaffolds. This
section gives several examples of the current state of the art.