This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Lower Limb » Flexor Tendinitis »
  Discussion on Research Summary: Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Tendon Repair
Author Message
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 - 6:39 am:

This is an interesting study but hard to evaluate its significance as there are no controls or blinded evaluation of the outcome. This needs to be repeated using a more rigorous experimental design but the results are promising. The process, where available, will be very expensive.
DrO

Tissue Eng. 2007 Oct 5;
Suspension of Bone Marrow-Derived Undifferentiated Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for Repair of Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon in Race Horses.

Pacini S, Spinabella S, Trombi L, Fazzi R, Galimberti S, Dini F, Carlucci F, Petrini M.

Center for the Clinical Use of Stem Cells and Hematology Division, Department of Oncology, Transplants, and Advances in Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.

It has been proven that mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) can differentiate into tenocytes. Attempts to repair tendon lesions have been performed, mainly using scaffold carriers in experimental settings. In this article, we describe the clinical use of undifferentiated MSCs in racehorses. Significant clinical recovery was achieved in 9 of 11 horses evaluated using ultrasound analysis and their ability to return to racing. Our results show that the suspension of a small number of undifferentiated MSCs may be sufficient to repair damaged tendons without the use of scaffold support. Ultrasound scanning showed that fibers were correctly oriented. By using undifferentiated cells, no ectopic bone deposition occurred. A sufficient number of cells was recovered for therapeutic purposes in all but 1 case. We suggest that the use of autologous MSCs is a safe therapeutic method for treating incompletely (i.e., not full-thickness) damaged tendons.
Member:
mrose

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 - 11:01 am:

Am I correct in assuming that "scaffold support" is another way of saying "matrix" of tissue? However, if I'm understanding this right, this would only work if the tendon wasn't completely severed?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 - 7:18 pm:

That would be over interpretation Sara. There is no information, pro or con, for the use in a case of complete transection. As to the scaffold support I am uncertain what it refers to. I take it to be a man made support or possibly even a zenographic tissue graph (tendinous tissue taken from another animal) that is surgically implanted. However I can find little information about such scaffold material used in tendon repair.
DrO
Member:
mrose

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 - 7:52 pm:

Thanks, Dr. O. I was trying to figure out how much this differed from stem cell repair.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Oct 19, 2007 - 12:33 pm:

It is a matter of the origin of the stem cells Sarah. I believe mesenchymal stromal cells would be considered a type of stem cell. In general stem cells can differentiate into any other tissue of the body and while I am uncertain if MSC's are quite this versatile they can differentiate into many tissues different from where they are harvested from.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC