In early stage osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH), core decompression (CD) is often performed; however, approximately 30% of CD cases progress to femoral head collapse. Bone healing can be augmented by preconditioning MSCs (pMSCs) with inflammatory cytokines. Another immunomodulatory approach is the timely resolution of inflammation using cytokines such as IL-4. We investigated the efficacy of pMSC and genetically modified MSCs that over-express IL-4 (IL4-MSCs) on steroid-associated ONFH in rabbits. Thirty-six male skeletally mature NZW rabbits received methylprednisolone acetate (20mg/kg) IM once 4 weeks before surgery. There were 6 groups:
CD alone – a 3 mm drill hole
hydrogel (HG) - 200 μl of hydrogel carrier MSCs–1 million rabbit MSCs pMSC - LPS (20 μg/ml) + TNFα (20 ng/ml) preconditioned MSCs IL4-MSCs – rabbit IL-4 over-expressing MSCs IL4-pMSCs – preconditioned IL-4 over-expressing MSCs Eight weeks after surgery, femurs were harvested, and evaluated by microCT, biomechanical, and histological analyses.Introduction
Methods
