Researchers implanted tissue-engineered spinal discs in a goat model which provided long-term function, according to a study in Science Translational Medicine.
Here are four things to know:
1. Researchers developed tissue-engineered, endplate-modified disc-like angle ply structures sized for rat caudal and goat cervical spines. They sandwiched hydrogel and polymer materials seeded with cartilage or mesenchymal stem cells between acellular polymer endplates to serve as an alternative to spinal fusion.
2. Study authors observed functional maturation and integration of the eDAPS in a rat caudal disc replacement model, with compressive mechanical properties reaching native values after 20 weeks in vivo and displaying evidence of functional integration under physiological loads.
3. Researchers then implanted eDAPS sized for the human cervical disc space in a goat cervical disc replacement model. The eDAPS maintained its composition and structure up to eight weeks in vivo in the goat cervical disc space, and its compressive mechanical properties matured to match native levels.
4. "These results demonstrate the translational feasibility of disc replacement with a tissue-engineered construct for the treatment of advanced disc degeneration," the authors concluded. The researchers plan to conduct longer-term studies to further characterize the function of the eDAPS in the goat model and test how the engineered discs perform in a human model.