Bone marrow extract as a growth supplement for human iliac apophyseal chondrocyte culture

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Human bone marrow is rich in various growth factors which may support the chondrocyte growth. This study was conducted to compare the culture characteristics of human growth plate chondrocyte in foetal bovine serum (FBS) and human autologous bone marrow extract (BME) in monolayer culture. METHODS: Iliac crest apophyseal cartilage was harvested from four donors, aged between two and nine years, undergoing hip surgery. Chondrocytes were propagated under two culture conditions, with 10 per cent FBS and 10 per cent autologous BME harvested from the same donors. Cells were harvested at 7, 14 and 21 days to assess viability, morphology, cell count and immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: With an initial seeding density of 2500 cells/cm(2), the average yield in monolayer cultured with FBS was 3.35 × 10(5), 5.9 × 10(5), 14.1 × 10(5) and BME was 0.66 × 10(5), 1.57 × 10(5) and 3.48 × 10(5) at 7, 14 and 21 days, respectively. Viability was 98.21 per cent with FBS and 97.45 per cent with BME at 21 days. In BME supplemented cultures, hyaline phenotype was maintained up to 21 days. The yield was higher in the FBS supplemented group; however, the phenotype could not be maintained by the FBS group as long as BME group. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: Autologous BME was found to be a safer alternative to FBS for human studies. BME could maintain the hyaline phenotype for a longer time. Ways to enhance the cell yield needs to be explored in future studies.