Tracking Stem Cells in Lower Legs After Injection

Researchers evaluate new tracking and delivery methods of stem cells in horses’ lower limbs.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Whether it’s an intravenous medication, a corticosteroid shot, or a vaccination, injections are commonplace in equine medicine. Stem cells, the key component in a popular new type of regenerative therapy, are also administered via injection. But where do the cells go once they’ve left the syringe and entered the horse’s body? And do they stay where they need to stay, or go where they need to go?

Mathieu Spriet, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVR, ECVDI, assistant professor in the Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences at the University of California (UC), Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, and a team of researchers recently set out to find an easy, noninvasive method of tracking stem cells injected into a horse’s lower leg, and to see if different methods of administration had a different effect on where the cells travel once administered. He presented the findings at the North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Conference, held June 2-4 in Lexington, Ky.

"Basically, we wanted to know where the cells are going, whether they stay (where they were injected), and how many of them stay there; Ideally we want the cells to … where the lesion is and stay there," Spriet explained.

Stem cells have been tracked using a material called green fluorescent protein; however, this technique requires a terminal study (i.e., the test horses are euthanized during the process of the study) to observe the results. Spriet et al. wanted to see if using a different material and method–a radioactive mixture of  the tracing compounds hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) and Technetium-99m (TcHMPAO) introduced within the stem cells and tracked using a gamma camera (scintigraphic imaging)–would allow for in vivo (in the live horse) stem cell tracking. The TcHMPAO material and aforementioned method had previously been proven effective in rodents, but had never been tested in horses. If successful, "the technique is a noninvasive approach and allows multiple assessments over time for up to 24 hours after cell injections," Spriet noted

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?
299 votes · 299 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!