VetCell

Stem Cells

Overview

Many competition horses suffer career threatening tendon injuries as a result of their sporting endeavours. Some estimates put the number of European performance horse tendon / ligament injuries at over 150,000 per annum. Traditional therapies result in a scarred tendon and “recovered” tendons are both less efficient and have a high risk of re-injury. Stem cells, for the first time, hold the promise of being able to regenerate tendon cells where a tendon has been damaged by injury or disease (regeneration rather than repair).

Back in 1961 researchers showed that stem cells could develop into tendon cells in the lab, and by the end of the 1990’s the regeneration of new tendon-like tissue had been seen in small animals.

VetCell, in partnership with the Royal Veterinary College and the Institute for Orthopaedics, has pioneered a technique for affordably “multiplying” equine mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord blood or adult bone marrow. These stem cells can either be used immediately or cryogenically stored for future use.

When a veterinary surgeon chooses to treat an injured equine tendon or ligament using mesenchymal stem cells he can either withdraw cells that have been previously “banked” (if the horse’s cord blood was stored when it was born) or extract bone marrow from which VetCell will separate and “multiply” the mesenchymal stem cells.

The cells are implanted into the core of the lesion and the animal enters a controlled rehabilitation programme in order to provide the cells with both the chemical and physical cues to promote appropriate differentiation.

Process

Equine mesenchymal stem cells hold the promise of being able to regenerate tendon cells where a tendon has been damaged by injury or disease (regeneration rather than repair). These stem cells are found in small numbers in the bone marrow of adult horses and in the umbilical cord blood of foals.


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		Stem Cells Overview Many competition horses suffer career threatening tendon injuries as a result of their sporting endeavours. Some estimates put the number of European performance horse tendon / ligament injuries at over 150,000 per annum. Traditional therapies result in a scarred tendon and “recovered” tendons are both less efficient and have a high risk of re-injury. Stem cells, for the first time, hold the promise of being able to regenerate tendon cells where a tendon has been damaged by injury or disease (regeneration rather than repair). Back in 1961 researchers showed that stem cells could develop into tendon cells in the lab, and by the end of the 1990’s the regeneration of new tendon-like tissue had been seen in small animals. VetCell, in partnership with the Royal Veterinary College and the Institute for Orthopaedics, has pioneered a technique for affordably “multiplying” equine mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord blood or adult bone marrow. These stem cells can either be used immediately or cryogenically stored for future use. When a veterinary surgeon chooses to treat an injured equine tendon or ligament using mesenchymal stem cells he can either withdraw cells that have been previously “banked” (if the horse’s cord blood was stored when it was born) or extract bone marrow from which VetCell will separate and “multiply” the mesenchymal stem cells. The cells are implanted into the core of the lesion and the animal enters a controlled rehabilitation programme in order to provide the cells with both the chemical and physical cues to promote appropriate differentiation. Process Equine mesenchymal stem cells hold the promise of being able to regenerate tendon cells where a tendon has been damaged by injury or disease (regeneration rather than repair). These stem cells are found in small numbers in the bone marrow of adult horses and in the umbilical cord blood of foals.