Cartilage Tissue Engineering Via Icariin and Adipose-derived Stem Cells in Fibrin Scaffold.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Nowadays, cartilage tissue engineering is the best candidate for regeneration of cartilage defects. This study evaluates the function of herbal extracts icariin (ICA), the major pharmacological constituent of herba Epimedium , compared with transforming growth factor β3 (TGFβ3) to prove its potential effect for cartilage tissue engineering. ICA, TGFβ3, and TGFβ3 + ICA were added fibrin-cell constructions derived from adipose tissue stem cells. After 14 days, cell viability analyzed by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H- tetrazolium bromide assay and the expression of cartilage genes was evaluated with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The results showed ICA, TGFβ3, and TGFβ3 + ICA increased the rate of proliferation and viability of cells; but there were no significant differences between them ( P > 0.05). Furthermore, quantitative RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that cooperation of ICA with TGFβ3 showed a better effect in expression of cartilaginous specific genes and increased Sox9, type II collagen, and aggrecan expression significantly. Furthermore, the results of the expression of type I and X collagens revealed that TGFβ3 increased the expression of them ( P < 0.01); However, treatment with ICA + TGFβ3 down regulated the expression of these genes significantly. The results indicated ICA could be a potential factor for chondrogenesis and in cooperation w

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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