2023, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (7): 1080-1088

Alginate scaffold in articular cartilage repair

Li Cheng1, 2, Zheng Guoshuang2, Kuai Xiandong1, 2, Yu Weiting1, 2   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Due to the anatomical and physiological characteristics of articular cartilage, its self-repair ability is limited, so how to repair large cartilage defects (diameter > 4 mm) has become one of the most attractive problems in the medical field. With the development of bio-materials and tissue engineering, the further development of scaffold technology, especially the hydrogel scaffold that simulates the microenvironment of extracellular matrix, provides a new therapeutic idea for the repair of cartilage injury.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the properties of alginate, the preparation of alginate saline gel scaffold and the research progress in the repair of cartilage injury.
METHODS: A computer-based search of Web of Science, PubMed, Wanfang and CNKI was performed for papers published from January 2016 to December 2020 with the key words of “alginate hydrogel; cartilage tissue engineering or chondro*, osteochondral, scaffold” in Chinese and English. According to the inclusion criteria, 60 articles were included for review.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Alginate, as negatively charged natural hydrophilic polysaccharide, can endow traditional alginate saline gel with better mechanical properties, adhesion, biodegradability and biocompatibility by modification technology. (2) The modified alginate composite hydrogel scaffold is beneficial to maintain the normal morphology of seed cells, synthesize the corresponding extracellular matrix, promote the expression of cartilage-related genes, and show excellent chondrogenic ability. (3) It has been reported that alginate composite hydrogel scaffold can form cartilage tissue similar to the surrounding normal cartilage in animals and effectively repair the defect. (4) In summary, alginate composite hydrogel scaffold has a good ability to promote cartilage repair, which provides a new therapeutic idea for cartilage tissue engineering. However, this material needs to be supported by more perfect preclinical trial data to promote its clinical transformation process.
Key words: alginate, cartilage, osteochondral, scaffold, tissue engineering, modify, hydrogel, review