The porcine and lagomorph septal cartilages: Models for tissue engineeringand morphologic cartilage research

Interest in reconstruction and modification of the facial cartilaginous fra meworks using advanced technology and instrumentation is growing rapidly. D espite this maturing interest, no animal model has been established to prov ide morphologic cartilage tissue with similar characteristics to human sept um in suitable quantities. The objective of this study was to characterize porcine and lagomorph (rabbit) nasal septal cartilage tissue. Both models s hare great similarity with their human counterpart and provide a low-cost, high-volume, and easily obtained source of bulk cartilage tissue. We presen t a technique for harvesting intact septal cartilages from these species, a nd characterize select cellular metabolic, and physical properties using pu lse-chase radiolabeling, flow cytometry, and mechanical analysis. Our selec tive evaluation of key tissue properties establishes these species as appro priate animal models for nasal septal cartilaginous surgery.