Effect of hyaluronic acid on human chondrocyte cell lines from articular cartilage

The effects of hyaluronic acid (HA) derivative on the proliferation and met abolism of human chondrocytes were examined. Cells were obtained from carti lage from metatarsal phalangeal joints of 20 adult humans (aged 22-63) and from femoral knee condyles of 10 subjects (aged 22-77). Chondrocytes isolat ed by collagenase/Dnase digestion were cultured with addition of different doses of HA for 4 weeks, Morphological studies demonstrated that HA enhance d the adhesion of cells to substrate; HA-treated chondrocytes proliferated better than chondrocytes cultured in HA-free medium. This study shows that HA improves in vitro substrate adhesion ability and proliferative activity of human cartilage cells and that the response to the treatment varies on a n individual basis, (C) 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.