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Stem cell therapy: Good for the horse, better in the dog
For more than 15 years the RVC has been at the forefront of developing cell therapies for treating horse tendon injuries,
which has resulted in the use of the stem cell therapy in the equine clinic. Since then, many thousands of horses have been treated worldwide, showing improvement over conservative treatment.
Now, Dr Jay Dudhia and Dr Amy Brewer of the newly established RVC Stem Cell Laboratory, licenced by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) to generate clinical grade stem cells, have teamed up with our clinical colleagues in the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (QMHA) to help treat canine patients.
Conditions that affect the articulating joints in dogs are common, such as osteoarthritis due to hip or elbow dysplasia, which
can affect up to 10% of dogs. Problems with tendons, such as those involved
in locomotion of the shoulder joint, or ligaments such as the cruciate ligaments of the stifle, are also prevalent.
Whilst some underlying causes can
be treated surgically, there is often no treatment available that can completely eradicate the pain and morbidity seen with advanced osteoarthritis, and no therapies that can halt or even reverse the progression of the disease. Stem cells are increasingly used for the treatment of osteoarthritis, with initial evidence suggesting it can provide
an effective alternative or adjunct to medical or surgical treatment and signs of improvement have been seen for long durations after treatment.
Treatment with stem cells, rather than regenerating joint tissues, appears to work by modulating the inflammation in the joint. The Orthopaedic Service in the QMHA is offering a stem cell clinic working directly with the Stem Cell Laboratory to provide an on-site service for treating certain joint conditions.
Canine stem cells are usually prepared from adipose tissue for autologous implantation. The harvest location of the
adipose tissue varies depending on the individual circumstance of the dog.
Stem cells are isolated from the fat in
the laboratory and allowed to expand in numbers necessary for treatment. Fat provides a rich source of stem cells, from which 10 to 100-fold more cells can
be isolated compared to bone marrow aspirates, which are typically used for horses – meaning that the cells are often ready for re-implantation into the patient within 7-10 days.
Currently the production of stem cells for the treatment of dogs is not regulated by the VMD, raising concerns over product safety and quality of the final product. However at the RVC canine stem cells are produced to the same VMD standards specified for equine stem cells.
The service is available to private practices.
For more information please email us at development@rvc.ac.uk and we will put you in touch with the team.
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Cultures of mesenchymal stem cells prepared from fat. Left, bright-field image showing the typical spindle-shaped morphology of these cells. Right, fluorescence microscope image stained for a stem cell marker (green) and the nuclei (blue).
Basil receiving the stem cells from orthopaedic surgeon Dr Richard Meeson
Basil, one of the early recipients of stem cell therapy at the QMHA