FIG. 5.

Biochemical and biomechanical analysis of the engineered cartilage (A) The GAG content of the reparative cartilage. The amount of GAG in the engineered cartilage at 3 months reached nearly 80% (p<0.05) of that in the corresponding normal cartilage, while that of 6 months increased to almost 90% of the native cartilage (p<0.05). (B) The collagen type II deposition of the reparative cartilage. Collagen type II reached 70% (p<0.05) of the native cartilage at 3 months while almost same as native cartilage 6 months postoperation (p<0.05). (C) The biomechanical property of the reparative cartilage. The compressive modulus of the neo-cartilage at 3 months postimplantation reached 70% of that of the normal cartilage (p<0.05) while that at 6 months to 90%, but without statistical significance (p>0.05). A significant increase in GAG content, collagen content, and compressive moduli of engineered cartilage at 6 months postrepair was observed compared with those of 3 months (p<0.05) (*means significantly different compared with engineered cartilage at 3 months; #, means significantly different compared with the corresponding normal cartilage).