Effects of Ultrasound on Cell Proliferation from Chicken Articular Cartilage Explants Culture

초음파가 닭의 관절연골에 미치는 영향

This study was performed to examine the effects of therapeutic doses of ultrasound on cell migration distance and proliferation of biopsies from articular cartilage. Articular cartilage biopsies were isolated from proximal part of the tibial of chicken, and cultured. Cartilage explants were exposed for a single 5 min to ultrasound with $0.1{\sim}1.6\;W/cm^2$ (spatial average-temporal average) at a frequency of 1 MHz. A control group was treated with the ultrasound generator switched off. The cell migration distance and cell proliferation analysis were performed on day 6 after stimulation of ultrasound. The results revealed that ultrasound influenced cell migration distance and cell proliferation in intensity-dependent manner. It was found that ultrasounds at $0.2\;W/cm^2$, $0.4\;W/cm^2$, and $0.8\;W/cm^2$ were significantly increase respectively both cell migration distance and cell proliferation (p<0.05). However, cell migration distance and cell proliferation were not affected by exposure ultrasound at $0.1\;W/cm^2$ and $1.6\;W/cm^2$ compared with control group. These results suggest that low-intensity ultrasounds at $0.2\;W/cm^2$, $0.4\;W/cm^2$, and $0.8\;W/cm^2$ may stimulate cell proliferation of the chondroblasts, and reflect a potential role in cartilage repair.