Treating horses with stem cells

Dubai: Pioneering stem cell treatment for horse injuries will soon be available in the UAE thanks to the expertise of the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory.

Within the next six months, veterinary surgeons at the centre hope to begin injecting injured horses with their own stem cells - with the hope that these will help to repair damaged ligaments and joints.

Stem cells are multipotent unspecialised cells that are able to turn into any other cell type and if they are used, the need for traditional medical treatments for injuries involving, for example, giving the horses medicines such as cortisone would be eliminated.

"This is really fantastic because we will get away from these medical treatments, which have a lot of recurrence," said Dr Ulrich Wernery, Scientific Director of the CVRL.

The stem cells are removed from the breast bone or sternum of the injured animal. A drill is used to extract bone marrow from the sternum, and from this the stem cells are separated out.

These purified stem cells are then treated to make them develop into the appropriate type of cell before being injected into the injured joint, which then repairs itself.

The methods have been developed by scientists in Hong Kong and will soon be used in the UAE for the first time. "Learning from the experience in Hong Kong, we know that it will work," Dr Wernery said.

He added that endurance horses were particularly prone to ligament and joint problems and so were likely to benefit most from the new treatment.