Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Dec 18, 2015; 6(11): 961-969
Published online Dec 18, 2015. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v6.i11.961
Platelet-rich plasma increases transforming growth factor-beta1 expression at graft-host interface following autologous osteochondral transplantation in a rabbit model
Lorraine A Boakye, Keir A Ross, John M Pinski, Niall A Smyth, Amgad M Haleem, Charles P Hannon, Lisa A Fortier, John G Kennedy
Lorraine A Boakye, Keir A Ross, John M Pinski, Niall A Smyth, Amgad M Haleem, Charles P Hannon, John G Kennedy, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY 10021, United States
Charles P Hannon, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, United States
Lisa A Fortier, Department of Clinical Sciences, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States
Author contributions: Boakye LA was chief in creating the manuscript and running all pertinent experiments as well as documenting and analyzing the data; Ross KA was chief in the original animal surgeries, microscopic analysis and editing of the manuscript; Pinski JM assisted the experiments and contributed to editing of the manuscript; Smyth NA and Haleem AM helped to design the original animal model and were crucial in performing the original animal surgeries; additionally, Smyth NA was key to the designing pertinent modes of inquiry; Hannon CP contributed significantly to editing the manuscript; Fortier LA made significant contributions to the initial and subsequent literature reviews while providing edits to the manuscript; Kennedy JG provided primary mentorship regarding project design as well as edits to the manuscript.
Supported by Arteriocyte Inc.; the Ohnell Family Foundation; and Mr. and Mrs. Michael J Levitt.
Institutional review board statement: This study as approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: HSS Project # 09-11-03B; Date Approval Granted: 10/06/11.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the listed contributing authors have conflicts of interest with the exception of Fortier LA and Kennedy JG. Kennedy JG: Arteriocyte, Inc.: Paid consultant; Research support European Society for Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA) Ankle and Foot Associates (AFAS): Board or committee member. Fortier LA: Arthrex, Inc.: Other financial or material support; Paid consultant Arthrex, Inc., Kensey nash Inc.: Research support Arthrex, Inc., Kensey Nash Inc.: Paid presenter or speaker International Cartilage Repair Society, International Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Society: Board or committee member Kensey Nash Inc.: Editorial or governing board.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at Dryad repository, who will provide a permanent, citable and open-access home for the dataset.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: John G Kennedy, MD, FRCS, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021, United States. hannonc@hss.edu
Telephone: +1-646-7978880 Fax: +1-646-7978966
Received: April 10, 2015
Peer-review started: April 11, 2015
First decision: June 24, 2015
Revised: September 8, 2015
Accepted: October 1, 2015
Article in press: October 8, 2015
Published online: December 18, 2015
Processing time: 251 Days and 19.9 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To explore the effect of platelet-rich plasma on protein expression patterns of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) in cartilage following autologous osteochondral transplantation (AOT) in a rabbit knee cartilage defect model.

METHODS: Twelve New Zealand white rabbits received bilateral AOT. In each rabbit, one knee was randomized to receive an autologous platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection and the contralateral knee received saline injection. Rabbits were euthanized at 3, 6 and 12 wk post-operatively. Articular cartilage sections were stained with TGF-β1 antibody. Histological regions of interest (ROI) (left, right and center of the autologous grafts interfaces) were evaluated using MetaMorph. Percentage of chondrocytes positive for TGF-β1 was then assessed.

RESULTS: Percentage of chondrocytes positive for TGF-β1 was higher in PRP treated knees for selected ROIs (left; P = 0.03, center; P = 0.05) compared to control and was also higher in the PRP group at each post-operative time point (P = 6.6 × 10-4, 3.1 × 10-4 and 7.3 × 10-3 for 3, 6 and 12 wk, respectively). TGF-β1 expression was higher in chondrocytes of PRP-treated knees (36% ± 29% vs 15% ± 18%) (P = 1.8 × 10-6) overall for each post-operative time point and ROI.

CONCLUSION: Articular cartilage of rabbits treated with AOT and PRP exhibit increased TGF-β1 expression compared to those treated with AOT and saline. Our findings suggest that adjunctive PRP may increase TGF-β1 expression, which may play a role in the chondrogenic effect of PRP in vivo.

Keywords: Platelet rich plasma; Transforming growth factor-beta; Autologous osteochondral transplantation

Core tip: Despite the prevalence of platelet rich plasma (PRP) in both practice and literature, there is a dearth of data exploring the specific factors crucial to its role as an adjunct to cartilage repair surgeries. Our results suggest that the increased expression pattern of transforming growth factor-beta1 in PRP-treated rabbit femoral condyles, compared to saline treated controls, is associated with enhanced cartilage repair at the graft-host interface following autologous osteochondral transplantation. Our results serve as an initial step in building a body of evidence behind the specific growth factors crucial to cartilage repair and promise to help us understand how formulations of PRP are effective in musculoskeletal healing.