The aim of this study was to evaluate a new
collagen-GAG-
calcium phosphate biphasic scaffold for the repair of surgically created osteochondral defects in goats. Comparison of morphological, histological and mechanical performance of the repair tissue was made with defects repaired using a synthetic
polymer scaffold. Defects were created in the medial femoral condyle (MFC) and lateral trochlear sulcus (LTS) of Boer Cross goats and evaluated at 12 and 26 weeks. It was found that the total histology score of the
collagen-GAG based
biomaterial (23.8; SD 1.7) provided a significant improvement (p<0.05) over the biphasic PLGA material (19;3) and the empty control defect (17.3;1.2) in the LTS. The overall trajectory of histological and morphological improvement between 12 and 26 weeks was found to be higher for the
collagen-GAG scaffold compared to the PLGA material. The occurrence of sub-chondral
bone cysts was lower for the
collagen-GAG scaffold with an incidence of 17% of defects, compared to 67% for the PLGA material at 26 weeks. The cartilage repair tissue for both materials evaluated was superior after 26 weeks implantation than the empty control with 75% of the
collagen-GAG-treated defects showing markedly more hyaline-like cartilage and 50% of the PLGA sites exhibiting hyaline-like appearances, compared to 17% for the empty control. These early stage data indicate biphasic scaffolds based on
collagen-GAG and PLGA both provide indications of satisfactory development of a structural repair to surgically prepared osteochondral defects. Furthermore, the
biomaterial composition of the
collagen-GAG may provide a more favourable environment for osteochondral repair.