Cartilage defects are normally concomitant with posttraumatic inflammation and pose a major challenge in cartilage repair. Due to the avascular nature of cartilage and its inability to surmount an inflammatory response, the cartilage is easily attacked by proinflammatory factors and oxidative stress; if left untreated, osteoarthritis may develop. Suppression of inflammation has always been a crux for cartilage repair. Pharmacological drugs have been successfully applied in cartilage repair; however, they cannot optimally work alone. This review article will summarize current pharmacological drugs and their application in cartilage repair. The development of extracellular matrix-based scaffolds and preconditioned tissue-specific stem cells will be emphasized because both of these tissue engineering components could contribute to an enhanced ability not only for cartilage regeneration but also for anti-inflammation. These strategies could be combined to boost cartilage repair under inflammatory conditions.
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