Abstract

The Equine Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon (SDFT) is frequently in athletic injured horses. The current conventional treatment strategies produce limited results with poor repair quality and an extremely long convalescence. Recently, stem cell therapy has shown promising results to enhancing the healing process of many degenerative diseases. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of autologous mesenchymal bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (MSCs) in the healing of collagenase-induced SDFT tendonitis lesions in both forelimbs of 5 horses. The injured tendons of the right forelimbs were treated by injection of autologous MSCs and the injured tendons of the other left forelimbs were injected with saline. The horses were clinically, ultrasonography and morpho-histology evaluated at 2, 4, 8, 12 &16 weeks. Horses were euthanized after 16 weeks. Results proved the potential of autologous MSCs to accelerating tendon repair in terms of quality and time. The success of treatment was proven by the shortened rehabilitation time and the higher number of horses returning to normal activity

Keywords: Equine; Stem cells; Tendons; Ligaments; Ultrasound