Preparation and biocompatibility studies of Collagen/Hyaluronic Acid/Oligomeric proanthocyanidins composites

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of disability in the geriatric population. OA progression is associated with several factors related to joint disorder caused by cartilage damage, synovial inflammation, and abnormalities in lubrication of the articular joint. Current treatment regimens tend to prevent disease progression and ameliorate inflammation and pain. Considering the development in the tissue engineering technology, particular attention has been paid to repair the damaged cartilage tissue. A composite bioactive scaffold with a bioinspired design that can simultaneously restore the damaged bone and cartilage is demanded. In this study, we aimed to use natural polymers and natural crosslinkers to replace chemically synthesized polymers. Oxidized hyaluronic acid (HA) and collagen were used in the first step of cross-linking, and oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC) were added in the second step of cross-linking. The Collagen/HA/OPC scaffold was designed and tested for chondrogenesis. Further hydroxyapatite and bone morphogenetic protein-2 was subsequently added to achieve different composite scaffolds for osteogenesis. The scaffolds were tested for biocompatibility and cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation abilities using rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and MG63 osteoblast-like cells. The results revealed these Collagen/HA/OPC based bioactive scaffolds had excellent biocompatibility and great potential applications in cartilage or bone restoration with different additives.