An empty defect served as control group.
One empty defect (SHAM) served as an internal control in each animal.
For the right knees, an empty defect with the same dimensions served as control.
A larger defect could have prevented the endogenous healing in the empty defect control group.
A) Empty defect, B) Scaffold alone, C) Scaffold + rhFGF-18, D) Scaffold + BMP-7.
Degenerative change was seen in many animals in the LTS, particularly in the empty defect and scaffold only groups.
The results demonstrate that both cell-free scaffolds showed excellent healing relative to the empty defect controls and somewhat surprisingly, to the tissue engineered (MSC-seeded) constructs.
Measures of static and dynamic gait were significantly decreased in the untreated, empty defect group, indicating a decrease in limb function.
The in vivo study was validated by the positive control (good bone formation with ChronOS™) and the negative control (no healing with the empty defect).
In the LTS, BMP-7 was significantly less stiff than both rhFGF18 and the empty defect when compared to the cartilage of contralateral limb (p = 0.003).
A similar trend was observed in the LTS, with both the rhFGF18 and scaffold only groups scoring higher than the empty defect, however no statistical significance was reached.
