ASSESSMENT OF DONOR CELL AND MATRIX SURVIVAL IN FRESH ARTICULAR-CARTILAGE ALLOGRAFTS IN A GOAT MODEL

The long-term survival of allografts of articular cartilage has been p roposed to be dependent on the survival of the cells that maintain the unique structural and material properties of the allograft. In this s tudy, we assessed cell survival in 24 fresh articular cartilage allogr afts of the medial plateau in a Spanish-goat model. A DNA-probe techni que was used to distinguish clearly between DNA from donor (allograft) and host cells. The intraarticular survival of viable allograft chond rocytes in the transplanted articular cartilage started to diminish as early as 3 weeks after transplantation; however, there was considerab le variation in the amount of donor cell DNA detected in the allograft s at 6 and 12 months following transplantation. This contrasts with ou r experience with fresh allografts of ligament, tendon, and meniscus, in which no donor DNA was detected 4 weeks after transplantation. DNA from host cells was present in all articular cartilage allografts, as evidenced by detectable unique host DNA patterns. Histological and his tochemical assays showed that none of the transplants demonstrated nor mal structure and composition at 1 year after transplantation. The gra fts in which large quantities of donor DNA were present appeared gross ly superior to those with no or reduced remaining demonstrable donor D NA.