REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
STEM CELL REGENERATIVE
In memories of all immobile dogs that were not given a second chance
What is Stem Cell Regenerative Therapy?
Soft tissue injuries, cranial cruciate ligament disease (CCLD), degenerative diseases and osteoarthritis are common conditions in dogs. These injuries are due to the forces placed on the joints and are more common in working dogs because of the repetitive injuries and microtrauma to tendons, ligaments, and articular surfaces. The degenerative arthritic changes progress throughout your dog’s life.Most therapies treat symptoms or may slow the progression of osteoarthritis. Stem cell therapy treats symptoms, slows the disease, decreases pain and consumption of pain medications, and repairs some or most of the damaged tissue. It will improve your pet’s quality of life.
Since the 1960s and the therapeutic use of hematopoietic stem cells of bone marrow origin, there has been an increasing interest in the study of undifferentiated progenitors that have the ability to proliferate and differentiate into various tissues. Stem cells (SC) with different potency can be isolated and characterised. Despite the promise of embryonic stem cells, in many cases, adult or even fetal stem cells provide a more interesting approach for clinical applications. It is undeniable that mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from bone marrow, adipose tissue, or Wharton’s Jelly are of potential interest for clinical applications in regenerative medicine because they are easily available without ethical problems for their uses. During the last 10 years, these multipotent cells have generated considerable interest and have particularly been shown to escape to allogeneic immune response and be capable of immunomodulatory activity. These properties may be of a great interest for regenerative medicine. Different clinical applications are under study (cardiac insufficiency, atherosclerosis, stroke, bone and cartilage deterioration, diabetes, urology, liver, ophthalmology, and organ’s reconstruction). This review focuses mainly on tissue and organ regeneration using SC and in particular MSC.
Regenerative medicine, based on the graft of tissue native cells (i.e., myocytes, chondrocytes, etc.) or SC able to differentiate into somatic cells, holds great promise if clinical hurdles can be overcome, particularly their possible tumorigenic property. This was highlighted in a case report involving a child who received fetal neural SC as a treatment for a neurodegenerative disease, but who later unfortunately developed multifocal glioneuronal tumor from transplanted neural stem cells. Many studies have been published in this area in the last 20 years.
References
Jennifer G. Barrett, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVS
Theodora Ayer Randolph Professor of Equine SurgeryAdjunct Assistant Professor, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University
Lisa A Fortier, DVM, PhD, board-certified surgeon
Associate Professor of Surgery at Cornell University Hospital for Animals. President of the International Cartilage Repair Society and vice president of the International Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Society
Alexander J Travis, VMD, PhD
Associate Professor of reproductive biology and wildlife conservation at the Baker Institute for Animal Health at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
Dori Borjesson, DVM, MPVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVP
Associate Professor UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Clare Yellowley, DVM, PhD
Associate Professor UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Jan Nolta, PhD
Director, UC Davis Stem Cell Program. Director, UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures UC Davis School of Medicine
WHAT ARE STEM CELLS
A stem cell is characterized by its ability to divide and create another cell like itself and by its potential to become many different types of cells. There are two broad types of stem cells:
Embryonic stem cells – Found in a developing embryo, embryonic stem cells are intended to form a whole animal or organ and have unlimited potential of development into any type of tissue. In human medicine, ethical and legal debates surround the use of embryonic stem cells for research and therapy; such controversy does not exist with the use of adult stem cells.
Adult stem cells – Found in most adult tissues, adult stem cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells and maintaining the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such blood, skin, or cartilage. Adult stem cells are also multi-potent, meaning the cells have the potential to differentiate themselves to become various types of cells.
Unlike the stem cell therapy that has been used in human medicine for many years – newer technology uses only adult stem cells harvested from the pet’s own body. This means no fetal cells are involved so no ethical or moral values are at stake. It’s a completely natural therapy – just the body healing itself with a little help from modern technology. It has been discovered that “dormant” stem cells are found in large quantities in body fat.
WHO NEEDS STEM CELL REGENERATIVE THERAPY
Autologous (tissues from the patient’s body) stem cell treatment has shown excellent safety in the thousands of animals treated. No major adverse reactions have been reported; the most “severe” reported reaction is local inflammation, or discomfort at the injection site. There is some concern that stem cell injection may accelerate tumor growth (i.e. if a tumor is present at the time of surgery which we would not expect for a healthy animal).
- Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease (CCLD)
- Dogs Arthritis, Osteoarthritis
- Orthopedic Soft Tissue Damage – Joint Injuries
- Orthopedic Soft Tissue Damage – Ligaments Injuries
- Orthopedic Soft Tissue Damage – Cartilage Injuries
- Orthopedic Soft Tissue Damage – Tendons Injuries
STEM CELL REGENERATIVE
Stem Cell therapy is not a “cure-all” for all bone and soft tissue damage. Results between individual cases will vary. Its effectiveness as a therapy has only been highlighted through thousands of reports on pets having undergone the procedure. However, with proper Canine Rehabilitation done, the chances of restoring the quality of life in your pet is above average. We can only rely on the data obtained through documented case studies to support the procedure. An old dog with arthritis can’t become a puppy again, but we hope to reduce the pain and inflammation caused by the disease, thereby providing better quality of life. We also expect greater mobility and less reliance on medications after the procedure.
DISCLAIMER
This is a medical procedure conducted by a trained Singapore Veterinarians. We are not associated to any Veterinarians practicing Stem Cell Regenerative Treatment. There are risks involved with any anesthetic procedure, and it is important to talk with your veterinarian about these prior to scheduling any surgery. Beyond the potential anesthetic risk, there is very minimal risk involved in this procedure. First of all, the surgery and all laboratory processing is performed under strict aseptic conditions so there’s little risk of infection. Secondly, all injected cells come from your own pet so there is no rejection by the body. Finally – the stem cells harvested from your pet are not modified in any way. They are simply activated so that they can do the job nature has intended for them.However, we can do a referral for your case to Singapore Vets that have been administering Stem Cell Regenerative Treatment
REFERENCES
- Murphy JM, Fink D, Hunziker E, et al: Stem cell therapy in a caprine model of osteoarthritis. Arthritis & rheumatism 48:3464-3474, 2003.
- Horie M, Sekiya I, Muneta T, et al: Intra-articular Injected synovial stem cells differentiate into meniscal cells directly and promote meniscal regeneration without mobilization to distant organs in rat massive meniscal defect. Stem cells 27:878-887, 2009.
- Hatsushika D, Muneta T, Horie M, et al: Intraarticular injection of synovial stem cells promotes meniscal regeneration in a rabbit massive meniscal defect model. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 31:1354-1359, 2013.
- Tsukamoto S, Honoki K, Fujii H, et al: Mesenchymal stem cells promote tumor engraftment and metastatic colonization in rat osteosarcoma model. International journal of oncology 40:163-169, 2012.
- Pak J, Chang J-J, Lee J, et al: Safety reporting on implantation of autologous adipose tissue-derived stem cells with platelet-rich plasma into human articular joints. BMC musculoskeletal disorders 14:337-337, 2013.
- Mishra P, Glod J, Banerjee D: Mesenchymal stem cells: flip side of the coin. Cancer research 69:1255-1258, 2009.