Progenitor Cells in Healthy and Laminitic Hooves (AAEP 2012)

Researchers recently evaluated adult progenitor cell characteristics from healthy and laminitic horse hooves.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Laminitis is a complicated equine condition that has the attention of researchers and veterinarians around the world. While some explore the big picture–such as managing horses with this debilitating disease–others examine the smaller aspects, right down to the cells that make up both the healthy and affected hoof.

A research team from the at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine recently compared adult progenitor cell characteristics from healthy and laminitic horse hooves. Mandi J. Lopez, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, associate professor of veterinary surgery in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences presented their results at the 2012 American Association of Equine Practitioners convention, held Dec. 1-5 in Anaheim, Calif.

Progenitor cells are, essentially, immature cells that can divide and are multipotent (capable of becoming different tissues). Lopez explained that this allows the cells to contribute to healing and maintaining tissues with many different cell types, such as the hoof. Lopez and colleagues hypothesized that "laminitis interferes with the normal function of progenitor cells in the hoof." To test this hypothesis, they developed a model to study hoof progenitor cells in the laboratory.

The team collected progenitor cells from healthy and laminitic horses and grew them in the laboratory. This allowed them to compare the speed at which the cells grew and multiplied; the capability of the cells to mature into cells from other tissues, fat, bone, and cartilage (a process called differentiation); and the behavior of the cells as they grew in the laboratory, Lopez said

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Erica Larson, former news editor for The Horse, holds a degree in journalism with an external specialty in equine science from Michigan State University in East Lansing. A Massachusetts native, she grew up in the saddle and has dabbled in a variety of disciplines including foxhunting, saddle seat, and mounted games. Currently, Erica competes in eventing with her OTTB, Dorado.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
287 votes · 287 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!