Table 2.

Preclinical studies examining the use of MSC-laden hydrogels for cartilage engineering.

Author	Year	Animal; Defect Type	Cell Source	Hydrogel	Study Setup	Results
Kim et al. [23]	2011	Rabbits osteochondral defects	BMSCs	HA hydrogel	BMSCs + HA injection BMSCs + 2 HA injections BMSC injection HA injections No treatment	Macroscopic and histological examination with significantly improved healing of osteochondral defects compared to untreated groups Superior histological results for BMSC + 2 HA injections
Lee et al. [75]	2007	Minipigs femoral osteochondral defects	BMSCs	HA hydrogel	BMSCs + hydrogels Hydrogels Saline	Superior histological and macroscopic results for cartilage repair when using BMSC-laden hydrogels compared to control groups
McIlwraith et al. [86]	2011	Horses osteochondral defects femorotibial joint	BMSCs	HA hydrogel	Microfracture + BMSC-laden HA hydrogels Microfracture + HA hydrogels	No clinical or histological differences Macroscopic and arthroscopic better tissue quality and higher aggrecan levels when adding BMSCs
Saw et al. [74]	2009	Goats osteochondral defects	BMSCs	HA hydrogel	Microfracture + BMSCs + 3 HA injections Microfracture + 3 HA injections No treatment	Successful cartilage repair with superior results in groups treated with HA injections and BMSCs
Chiang et al. [77]	2016	Rabbits OA	BMSCs	HA hydrogels	BMSCs + hydrogels Hydrogels No treatment	Improved histological cartilage scores and tissue content in BMSCs + hydrogels group In addition, less cartilage loss and surface abrasion compared to other groups
Mokbel et al. [80]	2011	Donkeys OA	BMSCs	HA hydrogels	BMSCs + hydrogels Hydrogels	Successful repair of cartilage defects in clinical and radiological evaluations in BMSC + hydrogel group compared with control groups
Sato et al. [79]	2012	Pigs OA	BMSCs	HA hydrogels	BMSCs + hydrogels BMSCs Hydrogels Saline	Histological repair of cartilage defects only in group treated with the combination of BMSCs + hydrogels Elevated collagen type II content in the group treated with BMSCs + hydrogels
Desando et al. [76]	2018	Rabbits OA	BMSCs	HA hydrogels	BMSCs BMSCs + hydrogels Bone marrow concentrate Bone marrow concentrate + hydrogels	Successful joint repair evident in all groups HA hydrogels enhance the migration of seeded cells to cartilage BMSCs favor migration to meniscal tissue Bone marrow concentrate favors migration to cartilage
Suhaeb et al. [78]	2012	Rats OA	BMSCs	HA hydrogels	BMSCs + hydrogels BMSCs Hydrogels	Better counteraction of OA progression when using Hydrogels and BMSCs alone compared to the combination of BMSCs + hydrogels
Pascual-Garrido et al. [83]	2019	Rabbits Critical chondral defect in knee trochlea	BMSCs	Novel photopoly-merizable hydrogel	BMSCs + hydrogels Hydrogels Untreated controls	Successful chondrogenesis of seeded BMSCs in vitro Partial cartilage repair in rabbit models in vivo with enhanced chondrogenic differentiation in BMSCs seeded in hydrogels
Critchley et al. [42]	2019	Rabbits Osteochondral defects knee	BMSCs	AL hydrogel	BMSCs + hydrogels Untreated controls	Enhanced repair of cartilage defects with mechanically stable repair tissue in the group treated with BMSCs + hydrogels
Choi et al. [84]	2018	Rabbits Femoral osteochondral defects	BMSCs	GEL hydrogel	Hydrogels BMSCs + hydrogels BMSCS treated with resveratrol + hydrogels	Greater chondrogenic potential in BMSCs treated with resveratrol Increased expression of chondrogenic marker genes and decreased expression of hypertrophic marker genes in BMSCs treated with resveratrol
Kim et al. [85]	2014	Rats OA	BMSCs	SAP hydrogels	BMSC + hydrogels BMSCs Hydrogels Negative controls	Anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective effects, decrease in apoptosis markers in the group treated with BMSCs + hydrogels Increased bone mineral density in the group treated with BMSCs + hydrogels

AL: alginate; BMSCs: bone marrow-derived MSCs; GEL: gelatin; HA: hyaluronic acid; OA: Osteoarthritis; SAP: self-assembled peptide.