Objective
s: The aims of this study were to assess the regeneration capability of intervertebral disc after annulotomy using tissue engineering techniques.
Methods
Tissue engineering, cell culture, microdiscectomy, histological test, and immunohistochemical staining method were applied. The annulus fibrosus tissue was obtained from the intervertebral tissue of inbred Fisher rats, cultured, incised the annulus fibrosus of another same strain white rat by microdiscectomy, cultured annulus fibrosus cells were transplanted by using a scaffold. In the same animal, one area was treated only with the incision of the annulus fibrosus and another area was transplanted only a scaffold after the incision of the annulus fibrosus, and these areas served as control groups for the degenerative change and the proliferation of transplanted cells. The regenerative capacity of transplanted cells was assessed by histological test and immunohistochemical staining.
Results
The results were that in the group transplanted cultured annulus fibrosus tissue with a scaffold, the increased proli- feration of intervertebral disc cells and the reduction of the degenerative change were observed, and regenerated annulus fibrosus tissue was similar to the normal annulus fibrosus histologically.
Conclusion
The data suggest the possibility of applying the transplant of the annulus fibrosus using a scaffold for the regeneration of intervertebral disc and the prevention of the degenerative change, and, in addition, it suggests the feasibility of the effective utilization of the model of the degenerative change of the intervertebral disc of Fischer rat used in this study to similar cell transplant experiments in future.
