BACKGROUND:Cartilage injury is stil one of the clinical problems difficult to be treated completely so far. Recently, the discovery of synovial mesenchymal stem cells (SMSCs) has brought about the new hope to cartilage repair.
OBJECTIVE:To explore the process concerning SMSCs-based therapy for cartilage repair in the past few years, such as the characteristics of SMSCs, culture conditions, preclinical and clinical studies, and then to summarize the literatures published in recent years.
METHODS:A computed-based online search of PubMed and SpringerLink databases was performed using the key words of“synovial mesenchymal stem cells, cartilage repair”for literatures published from January 1993 to May 2013.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Final y, 37 articles were included. SMSCs have a greater proliferative capability, colony-forming potential and chondrogenic potential than other mesenchymal stem cells. The diseases such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis can influence the characteristics of SMSCs. Numerous articles have aimed at the studies of cellculture in vitro and celltransplantation in vivo. However, the process of SMSCs therapy is mostly at its preliminary stage. Reports on its unique characteristics, optimal culture conditions and the high-quality clinical studies are stil largely lacking. In a word, though further studies are needed, SMSCs appear to be a promising cellsource for cartilage repair in the future.

BACKGROUND:In order to avoid heterotopic ossification after total hip arthroplasty, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used for prevention.
OBJECTIVE:To compare the effect of meloxicam and indomethacin in the prevention of heterotopic ossification after total hip arthroplasty.
METHODS:Fifty-one patients who treated in the Department of Orthopedics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from 2010 to 2011 were col ected. Among the 51 patients, nine patients were treated with bilateral total hip arthroplasty, and al the patients had total hip arthroplasty with the posterior-lateral approach. The patients were divided into the control group and the experimental group according to the drugs used after replacement, and the patients in the two groups were administered with indomethacin sustained-release tablet 25 mg+omeprazole capsule 20 mg or meloxicam tablet 15 mg after replacement.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:There were no significant differences in the incidence of heterotopic ossification, pain, modified D’Aubigne and Postel scores after replacement between two groups (P>0.05). But, the gastrointestinal adverse reactions of the experimental group were less than those of the control group. The application of meloxicam only can effectively avoid the heterotopic ossification and release pain. Consequently, we recommend meloxicam as postoperative drug for the prevention of heterotopic ossification and pain remission fol owing total hip arthroplasty.

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficiency of three different serotypes of adeno-associated virus (AAV) in mediating the transfection of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in Tibet minipig fetal fibroblasts (PFFs).

METHODSThree recombinant AAV of different serotypes encoding EGFP were constructed and transfected into primary cultured PFFs at the multiplicity of infection (MOI) ranging from 10(3) to 10(5). The expression rates of EGFP in the PFFs were assessed 72 h after the infection by flow cytometry, and the transfected PFFs were observed under inverted fluorescence microscope. The toxicity of AAVs to PFFs was analyzed using MTT assay.

RESULTSThe transfection efficiency of AAV2-EGFP increased with MOI. At the MOI of 10(3), the transfection efficiency of AAV2-EGFP was (33.68∓1.18)%, which increased to (50.80∓2.59)% at the MOI of 10(4) but without obvious further increase at the MOI of 10(5). The other two serotypes of the virus (AAV8 and AAV9) showed no obvious changes in the infection efficiency at any MOIs. The transfection efficiency of AAV8 was (8.3∓0.02)% and that of AAV9 was (2.20∓1.02)% at the MOI of 10(5). Transfection with the 3 viruses caused no adverse effects on the normal cell growth of the PFFs.

CONCLUSIONSAAV2 has a significantly higher infection rate in cultured PFFs than AAV8 and AAV9, and the latter two have a rather low infection efficiency. All the three AAVs have no cell toxicity to the PFFs.

Animals ; Animals, Genetically Modified ; Cell Line ; Dependovirus ; classification ; genetics ; Fibroblasts ; Genetic Vectors ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; Swine ; Swine, Miniature ; Transfection