Autologous serum refers to a therapeutic product derived from a horse's own blood, used primarily in veterinary medicine to treat various ocular and dermatological conditions. This serum is prepared by collecting blood from the horse, allowing it to clot, and then centrifuging it to separate the serum from other blood components. The resulting serum contains growth factors, antibodies, and other bioactive molecules that can aid in the healing process and reduce inflammation. It is often applied topically or injected into affected areas, providing a personalized treatment option that minimizes the risk of immune reactions. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the preparation, application, and efficacy of autologous serum in equine medical treatments.
Chiaradia E, Pepe M, Tartaglia M, Scoppetta F, D'Ambrosio C, Renzone G, Avellini L, Moriconi F, Gaiti A, Bertuglia A, Beccati F, Scaloni A.Osteoarthritis (OA) and osteochondrosis (OC) are two of the main challenges in orthopedics, whose definitive diagnosis is usually based on radiographic/arthroscopic evidences. Their early diagnosis should allow preventive or timely therapeutic actions, which are generally precluded from the poor relationships occurring between symptomatologic and radiographic evidences. These limitations should be overcome by improving the knowledge on articular tissue metabolism and on molecular factors regulating its normal homeostasis, also identifying novel OA and OC biomarkers suitable for their earlier d...
Hale BW, Goodrich LR, Frisbie DD, McIlwraith CW, Kisiday JD.To evaluate the effect of fibrin concentrations on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) migration out of autologous and commercial fibrin hydrogels. Methods: Blood and bone marrow from six 2- to 4-year-old horses. Methods: Autologous fibrinogen was precipitated from plasma and solubilized into a concentrated solution. Mesenchymal stem cells were resuspended in fibrinogen solutions containing 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% of the fibrinogen precipitate solution. Fibrin hydrogels were created by mixing the fibrinogen solutions with MSCs and thrombin on tissue culture plates. After incubation for 24 hours in cel...
Ainsworth DM, Reyner CL.To examine the effects of in vitro exposure to solutions of autologous horse blood (AHB) and autologous horse serum (AHS) on expressions of selected cytokine genes in equine primary bronchial epithelial cell (BEC) cultures and to contrast these responses to those induced in BEC cultures by endotoxin and hay dust. Methods: BEC cultures established from bronchi of 6 healthy horses. Methods: 5-day-old BEC cultures were treated with PBS solution, AHB (2 concentrations), AHS, hay dust solution, and lipopolysaccharide solution for 24 hours. Gene expressions of interleukin (IL)-8, IL-1β, chemokine (...
Geburek F, Stadler P.Conventional treatments of equine tendon injuries lead to an unsatisfactory healing process that usually results in a relatively high recurrence rate. Therefore, in recent years so-called regenerative therapeutics were studied scientifically in vitro and in laboratory animals. These include substances that ideally lead to the formation of replacement tissue, which in contrast to the low quality scar, has similar functional properties as the original intact tendon. Currently, a plethora of different substrates is either commercially available or can be produced in practice with the help of kits...
Textor J.Autologous biologic therapies such as platelet-rich plasma and autologous conditioned serum are in widespread clinical use to treat musculoskeletal pathology in horses. These substances exert a therapeutic effect through the provision of either anabolic or anti-catabolic factors, or a combination of both. This article discusses the history, experimental and clinical literature, and currently accepted preparation and usage strategies for both platelet-rich plasma and autologous conditioned serum.
Williams KJ, Derksen FJ, Defeijter-Rupp HL, Robinson NE.Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) occurs in nearly all strenuously exercising horses. Recent studies have attempted to identify the role of free blood within the airspaces, in the lung fibrosis that develops within the lungs of EIPH horses. Objective: Repeated exposure of the equine lung to autologous blood results in lung fibrosis similar to that observed in spontaneous EIPH. Methods: Forty ml of autologous blood from the jugular vein was instilled into preselected lung regions of 6 horses one, 2, 3, 4 or 5 times at 2 week intervals, with 40 ml of saline instilled into the contral...
Hraha TH, Doremus KM, McIlwraith CW, Frisbie DD.Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent and debilitating conditions affecting the horse. Autologous conditioned serum (ACS), commercially available as IRAP and IRAP II, is a recently developed treatment for OA in which plasma is prepared from venous blood by incubation with glass beads for 24 h. This product has been shown to increase anti-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors in human blood. However, data for equine ACS preparations are lacking. Objective: To characterise the protein profiles produced by commercially available ACS systems in equine blood. Methods: Blood was dra...
Georg R, Maria C, Gisela A, Bianca C.This case report describes the intralesional application of autologous conditioned plasma (ACP) in seven horses as treatment of severe tendinitis of the superficial digital flexor tendon, deep digital flexor tendon, or desmitis of the inferior check ligament. Follow-up data of the horses revealed a positive outcome in 10 to 13 months post injury. All horses treated with ACP were either performing in their previous work-load or were back in full training. Further studies with long-term follow-up will have to be performed to support these clinical intermediate-term observations.
Crovace A, Lacitignola L, Rossi G, Francioso E.The aim of this study was to compare treatment with cultured bone marrow stromal cells (cBMSCs), bone marrow Mononucleated Cells (BMMNCs), and placebo to repair collagenase-induced tendinitis in horses. In six adult Standardbred horses, 4000 IU of collagenase were injected in the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT). Three weeks after collagenase treatment, an average of either 5.5 x 10(6) cBMSCs or 1.2 x 10(8) BMMNCs, fibrin glue, and saline solution was injected intralesionally in random order. In cBMSC- and BMMNCS-treated tendons, a high expression of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein...
Bosch G, Moleman M, Barneveld A, van Weeren PR, van Schie HT.The repair process of tendon injuries, which are common in both human and equine athletes, is slow and the quality of the repair tissue is often inferior to the original tendon tissue, which frequently leads to re-injury. The relatively poor vascularization of tendons is considered to be one of the reasons for their limited healing potential. Recently, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), an autologous concentrate of platelets, rich in growth factors, has been shown to enhance the repair process of injured tendons. This effect has been ascribed to the high levels of growth factors in PRP, several of wh...
Argüelles D, Carmona JU, Climent F, Muñoz E, Prades M.Two horses with acute tendinopathy of a superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) and three horses with chronic proximal desmitis of the suspensory ligament (PDSL) were treated by injecting autologous concentrates of their platelets into the lesions. The lesions were monitored ultrasonographically and clinically. There were significant ultrasonographic and clinical improvements in the two horses with SDFT, but no ultrasonographic improvements in the horses with PDSL; however, they improved clinically and became less lame. All the horses had returned to their pre-injury level of performance by s...
Frisbie DD, Kawcak CE, Werpy NM, Park RD, McIlwraith CW.To assess the clinical, biochemical, and histologic effects of intra-articular administration of autologous conditioned serum (ACS) in the treatment of experimentally induced osteoarthritis in horses. Methods: 16 horses. Methods: Osteoarthritis was induced arthroscopically in 1 middle carpal joint of all horses. In 8 placebo- and 8 ACS-treated horses, 6 mL of PBS solution or 6 mL of ACS was injected into the osteoarthritis-affected joint on days 14, 21, 28, and 35, respectively; PBS solution was administered in the other sham-operated joints. Evaluations included clinical assessment of lamenes...
Litzke LE, Wagner E, Baumgaertner W, Hetzel U, Josimović-Alasević O, Libera J.Damaged adult articular cartilage has very limited capacity to heal. Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) has been used clinically and studied in experimental animals in an attempt to provide biologically based cartilage regeneration. This study evaluated cartilage repair following ACT in a large animal model over a period of 2 years. Articular cartilage defects (10 mm in diameter, full-thickness) were created in the minor load-bearing area on the lateral talus of tibiotarsal joints of eight adult horses. In each animal, the right joint was repaired using autologous chondrocytes inject...
Barnewitz D, Evers A, Zimmermann J, Wilke I, Kaps C, Sittinger M.Degenerative alterations in fetlock joints of the forelimb are common diagnoses for horses. The hyaline cartilage has a low capacity to regenerate and the treatment by veterinarians is often insufficient. As a final result, horses with articular cartilage defects are often not able to take part in competitions anymore. To establish an autologous cartilage repair method, we set artificial lesions (8 mm in diameter) into the fetlock joints of the forelimb of three horses. These defects were closed with autologous chondrocyte implants, which were fixed with titan-suture-anchors. After 3, 12 and 2...
Kingston JK, Bayly WM, Sides RH.Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage has been associated with reduced performance in racing horses. However, it is unclear what volume of blood loss into the lungs impairs performance. The purpose of the present study was to determine the minimal volume of autologous Horses blood instilled into the airways that significantly affects performance and pulmonary function in exercising horses. Six Thoroughbred horses performed 2 exercise bouts on each of 4 treatment test days. Each exercise bout consisted of a 2 min warm-up at 4 m/s followed by running at a speed equivalent to 115% VO2max, until ...
van Loon CJ, de Waal Malefijt MC, Buma P, Stolk T, Verdonschot N, Tromp AM, Huiskes R, Barneveld A.The properties of impacted morsellised bone graft (MBG) in revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) were studied in 12 horses. The left hind metatarsophalangeal joint was replaced by a human TKA. The horses were then randomly divided into graft and control groups. In the graft group, a unicondylar, lateral uncontained defect was created in the third metatarsal bone and reconstructed using autologous MBG before cementing the TKA. In the control group, a cemented TKA was implanted without the bone resection and grafting procedure. After four to eight months, the animals were killed and a biomechan...
Valdés-Vázquez MA, McClure JR, Oliver JL, Ramirez S, Seahorn TL, Haynes PF.A sutured tenorrhaphy technique that incorporated an autologous tendon graft was compared mechanically and histologically with a sutured tenorrhaphy at 6, 12, and 24 weeks after repair. Tenorrhaphy was performed in the forelimb tendon of the deep digital flexor muscle and the graft was taken from the hindlimb tendon of the lateral digital extensor muscle; one forelimb site included the graft, whereas the other forelimb site was not grafted. Tenotomies were made immediately proximal to the insertion of the accessory ligament into the tendon of the deep digital flexor muscle. Grafted and nongraf...
Schumacher J, Ford TS, Brumbaugh GW, Honnas CM.Full-thickness, circular, cutaneous wounds (4 cm diameter) were created on metacarpi and metatarsi of 5 horses. On day 6, all 4 wounds on each horse received a stored autogenous split-thickness sheet graft. Grafts were obtained from the horse's ventrolateral thorax with a pneumatic dermatome at the time the cutaneous wounds were created. Grafts were coapted to the granulation bed of 2 wounds of each horse with fibrin glue. Grafts were coapted to the cutaneous margin of all 4 wounds of each horse with cyanoacrylate glue. Bandages were changed daily until the study ended at 14 d. When the bandag...
Troedsson MH, Scott MA, Liu IK.Four intrauterine treatment strategies were evaluated for effectiveness in mares that were confirmed to be susceptible to chronic uterine infection. Pretreatment samples were obtained at detection of estrus, and a genital strain of Streptococcus zooepidemicus was infused into the uterus when a preovulatory (> 35 mm) follicle was detected. At 12 hours after inoculation, mares were assigned to 1 of 4 selected treatment groups: autologous plasma, 100 ml (n = 5); potassium penicillin, 5 million U in 100 ml of phosphate-buffered saline solution (PBSS; n = 5); 10 mg of prostaglandin F2 alpha in 1...
Aguilera-Tejero E, Pascoe JR, Tyler WS, Woliner MJ.To investigate physiological consequences of autologous blood instillation in the lungs of healthy horses, respiratory mechanics and bronchial response to histamine were studied in 8 Thoroughbreds before and after introducing autologous blood (n = 5) and sterile saline solution (n = 3) into their lungs. Blood instillation resulted in a decrease in dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and increased respiratory resistance (R). Bronchial sensitivity and reactivity were unchanged after blood introduction. There were no significant changes in pulmonary mechanics or bronchial response after saline instillation...
Troedsson M, Concha C, Einarsson S, Holmberg O.From 6 mares with chronic uterine infection, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) were obtained from the uterus. In order to recover an adequate number of viable PMNs, 0.1% oyster glycogen was infused into the uterus as a mild irritant 12 h prior to the uterine flushing. Phagocytosis and chemotaxis of the uterine derived PMNs were determined. The supernatant from the uterine flushing was compared with autologous serum for its capacity as an opsonin and chemoattractant. There was a significant increase of both phagocytosis and chemotaxis when autologous serum was used compared with the supernat...
Archer RM, Schneider RK, Lindsay WA, Wilson JW.Perforated stainless steel cylinders filled with autogenous cancellous bone were implanted in the distal tarsal joints of four horses. Graft cell survival was poor two weeks after surgery in one horse. In two horses, at 10 months there was partial arthrodesis of the joints with incorporation of the implants into the osseous union. The implants were filled with vascularised woven bone. These two horses were sound nine months after surgery. One horse fractured its third tarsal bone and was still positive to a hock flexion test 12 months after surgery.
Richardson DW, Nunamaker DM, Sigafoos RD.Arthrodesis of the metacarpophalangeal joint was attempted in 9 adult horses, using a new external skeletal fixation device and autogenous cancellous bone graft. Four horses had excellent results, 2 horses had fair results, arthrodesis failed in 2 horses, and 1 horse fractured the third metacarpal bone. The advantages of the technique included minimal surgical trauma to the area of injury, immediate rigid fixation of the metacarpophalangeal joint, and access for treatment of soft-tissue lesions at the site of injury. Although pin loosening and pin-track infection were complications when the de...
Coyne CP, Kelly AB, Hornof WJ, O'Brien TR, Philp MS, Lamb JF.A method is presented for the in vitro isolation and radiolabeling of equine platelets with the isotope indium 111 (111In: half-life = 2.8 days, gamma = 173 keV, 89%; 247 keV, 94%). The technique described involves complexing 111In with the lipid-soluble chelating agent, 2-mercaptopyridine-N-oxide (merc), in an aqueous medium. 111In-merc platelet-labeling efficiencies in autologous plasma pretreated with or without ferric citrate reagent were 82 +/- 7% and 24 +/- 12%, respectively. Mean intravascular survivals of 111In-merc-radiolabeled platelets in 8 healthy horses according to simple linear,...
Fackelman GE, von Rechenberg B, Fetter AW.The need for early postoperative weight bearing following fracture repair in the horse has led to investigation of various means of expediting the healing process. Bone grafting represents one means of accomplishing this, and the transplantation of autologous tissues has proven to be most useful in equine orthopedics. Acid-decalcified, frozen, allogeneic bone for grafting is easy to prepare, readily contoured, osteogenic, and elicits no obvious immune or rejection response. The most compelling reason for the use of the substance is the elimination of the need of a harvesting operation on a pat...
Strömberg B, Tufvesson G.Four autologous tendon grafting techniques, bipedicle, pedicle and free grafts of the deep digital flexor tendon and free grafts from the lateral digital extensor tendon were described. The vascularization and remodelling of the transplant and the reactions in the donor, as well as the recipient tendon, were studied by means of microangiographic and histochemical methods. The results indicated that regardless of the technique used the grafts were revascularized and replaced by a highly orientated and organized tendon. The use of free grafts may therefore be worthwhile in treatment of severe te...
Bodurov N, Filipov Zh.Comparative clinical and experimental investigations were carried out on 18 clinically normal horses. It was found that the single transfusion of in vitro UV-treated autogenous blood, following a previously described method, was tolerated well by horses and did not lead to any deviations from the normal indices. Under the effect of the treated blood there was an increase in the hemoglobin content, rise in the erythrocyte and leukocyte count with slightly expressed hyperleukocytosis and weak neutrophilia (simple regeneration of the blood). The sedimentation of erythrocytes also showed higher ra...
Watson RE, Larson KA.Indirect immunofluorescence and lymphocyte cytotoxicity experiments demonstrated the presence of a tumor-specific antigen(s) on the surface of cells from an equine sarcoid cell line (Mc1). Autologous serum (taken from the horse from which the Mc1 cells were derived) and sera from three other sarcoid-bearing horses revealed a similar membrane immunofluorescence when reacted with Mc1 cells, indicating the existence of cross-reacting antibodies. Results of serum colony inhibition experiments indicate that these antibodies are not cytotoxic. Incubation of Mc1 cells with autologous lymphocytes resu...
Duddy HR, Schoonover MJ, Hague BA.Tendon and ligament injuries are significant causes of loss of use and early retirement in performance horses. Amniotic fluid and tissue are excellent sources of growth factors and cytokines important in tendon and ligament healing. Thus, an equine-origin liquid amnion allograft (ELAA) may be beneficial in the treatment of equine tendonitis and desmitis. Objectives of this study were to report the outcome achieved (i.e. ability to return to work) for horses diagnosed with tendonitis or desmitis lesions treated with local injection of ELAA and to compare these outcomes to those reported for oth...
Roth SP, Brehm W, Troillet A.Cell-based therapies for the treatment of osteoarthritis in equine patients experienced a real boom within the last few years. In every day medical practice, attending veterinary surgeons extract patient's blood or other autologous tissue samples and process the material for the purpose of administering the resulting product to the same patient under their own responsibility. Although being consistently classified as treatment option within the framework of regenerative medicine, the manufacturing processes, ingredients, and mechanisms of action remain highly diverse among cell-based therapies...
Ghassab S, Dulin J, Bertone AL.To compare clotting efficiency of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and concentrated platelet-poor plasma (cPPP) to citrated whole blood after activation by autologous thrombin, bovine thrombin, or calcium chloride (CaCl2 ). Methods: Experimental study. Methods: Healthy adult horses (n = 6). Methods: PRP and cPPP were prepared by commercial devices. Using thromboelastography, clotting variables were compared after activation of citrated autologous blood, PRP, and cPPP by autologous thrombin, bovine thrombin, or CaCl2 , respectively. Results: PRP had the greatest clot strength and quickest clot rate, ...
Löfgren M, Ekman S, Ekholm J, Engström M, Fjordbakk CT, Svala E, Holm Forsström K, Lindahl A, Skiöldebrand E.Autologous conditioned serum (ACS) is used to treat osteoarthritis in horses, although its effects are not fully investigated. Objective: To investigate the effects of equine serum and conditioned serum on chondrocytes stimulated with interleukin (IL)-1β and cartilage explants with mild osteoarthritis. Methods: In vitro experimental study. Methods: The effect of three different serum preparations (unincubated control [PS], serum incubated 24 h [PS24h], and serum incubated 24 h in ACS containers [PCS]) pooled from lame horses were tested in two in vitro models. IL-1β and IL-1 receptor antagon...
Hallamaa RE, Batchu KC, Tallberg T.Equine summer eczema, also known as insect bite hypersensitivity, affects horses recurrently during summer months. The treatment of this allergic pruritus is difficult and therefore there is a need for efficacious treatments. Autoserum therapy, based on the use of autogenous serum that is specifically prepared for oral administration and given when the animal shows clinical signs has been introduced recently. Lipids are thought to be responsible for the effect of this therapy. Objective: The main aim of this study was to analyse the phospholipid content of autogenous serum preparations and to ...
Sandersen C, Ceusters J, Fourez A, Tosi I, Graide H, Lejeune JP, Serteyn D.Recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) commonly affects horses and is characterized by abnormal respiratory sounds and exercise intolerance. The recurrent laryngeal nerve shows lesions of demyelination. The benefit of applying stem cells to demyelinated nerves has been demonstrated in various animal models. The aim of the study was to test the feasibility and safety of a peri-neuronal injection of autologous muscle-derived mesenchymal stem cells to the left recurrent laryngeal nerve in healthy horses by using an electrical nerve stimulator. Muscle-derived stems cell are obtained from five health...
Leal Reis I, Lopes B, Sousa P, Sousa AC, Branquinho M, Caseiro AR, Pedrosa SS, Rêma A, Oliveira C, Porto B, Atayde L, Amorim I, Alvites R, Santos JM....Tendon and ligament injuries are frequent in sport horses and humans, and such injuries represent a significant therapeutic challenge. Tissue regeneration and function recovery are the paramount goals of tendon and ligament lesion management. Nowadays, several regenerative treatments are being developed, based on the use of stem cell and stem cell-based therapies. In the present study, the preparation of equine synovial membrane mesenchymal stem cells (eSM-MSCs) is described for clinical use, collection, transport, isolation, differentiation, characterization, and application. These cells are ...
Coyne CP, Kelly AB, Hornof WJ, O'Brien TR, Philp MS, Lamb JF.A method is presented for the in vitro isolation and radiolabeling of equine platelets with the isotope indium 111 (111In: half-life = 2.8 days, gamma = 173 keV, 89%; 247 keV, 94%). The technique described involves complexing 111In with the lipid-soluble chelating agent, 2-mercaptopyridine-N-oxide (merc), in an aqueous medium. 111In-merc platelet-labeling efficiencies in autologous plasma pretreated with or without ferric citrate reagent were 82 +/- 7% and 24 +/- 12%, respectively. Mean intravascular survivals of 111In-merc-radiolabeled platelets in 8 healthy horses according to simple linear,...
Hale J, Hughes K, Hall S, Labens R.Autologous conditioned serum (ACS) is a common intra-articular treatment for osteoarthritis in horses. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of ACS preparation method on product contamination and concentrations of relevant cytokines and the influence of multiple freeze/thaw cycles. Blood was obtained from 10 healthy Thoroughbred horses and processed in parallel using a commercial and a non-commercial method to obtain ACS. Fluorescent microsphere immunoassay (FMIA) analysis was performed to quantify Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), Interleukin-10 (IL-10), Inter...
Strömberg B, Tufvesson G.Four autologous tendon grafting techniques, bipedicle, pedicle and free grafts of the deep digital flexor tendon and free grafts from the lateral digital extensor tendon were described. The vascularization and remodelling of the transplant and the reactions in the donor, as well as the recipient tendon, were studied by means of microangiographic and histochemical methods. The results indicated that regardless of the technique used the grafts were revascularized and replaced by a highly orientated and organized tendon. The use of free grafts may therefore be worthwhile in treatment of severe te...
Tomlinson F, Terschuur J, Henson F.Soft tissue injuries and joint disease are the predominate causes of lameness in the equine athlete and these pathologies carry a guarded prognosis for a return to previous performance. Recently the use of autologous products has become more widespread as a treatment in equine sports medicine. However, the efficacy of these products is yet to be fully established. To evaluate the current published evidence base regarding the efficacy of autologous products in soft tissue injuries and joint disease. A systematic review of English articles using MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science databases from ...
Archer RM, Schneider RK, Lindsay WA, Wilson JW.Perforated stainless steel cylinders filled with autogenous cancellous bone were implanted in the distal tarsal joints of four horses. Graft cell survival was poor two weeks after surgery in one horse. In two horses, at 10 months there was partial arthrodesis of the joints with incorporation of the implants into the osseous union. The implants were filled with vascularised woven bone. These two horses were sound nine months after surgery. One horse fractured its third tarsal bone and was still positive to a hock flexion test 12 months after surgery.
Troedsson M, Concha C, Einarsson S, Holmberg O.From 6 mares with chronic uterine infection, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) were obtained from the uterus. In order to recover an adequate number of viable PMNs, 0.1% oyster glycogen was infused into the uterus as a mild irritant 12 h prior to the uterine flushing. Phagocytosis and chemotaxis of the uterine derived PMNs were determined. The supernatant from the uterine flushing was compared with autologous serum for its capacity as an opsonin and chemoattractant. There was a significant increase of both phagocytosis and chemotaxis when autologous serum was used compared with the supernat...
Tuska P, Tóth B, Vásárhelyi G, Hangody L, Papp M, Bodó G.The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in biomarker and synovial parameters following autologous osteochondral transplantation (AOT) in the equine stifle joint, to test the hypothesis whether synovial parameters would show significant differences at selected time points following the surgery (at days 3, 14, 60 and 180) compared to baseline level (at day 0). Surgical intervention was performed in both stifles of nine horses (n = 18). The joints were randomly assigned to operated and sham-operated groups. Grafts 8.5 mm in diameter were harvested from the femoropatellar (FP) joint unde...
Fackelman GE, von Rechenberg B, Fetter AW.The need for early postoperative weight bearing following fracture repair in the horse has led to investigation of various means of expediting the healing process. Bone grafting represents one means of accomplishing this, and the transplantation of autologous tissues has proven to be most useful in equine orthopedics. Acid-decalcified, frozen, allogeneic bone for grafting is easy to prepare, readily contoured, osteogenic, and elicits no obvious immune or rejection response. The most compelling reason for the use of the substance is the elimination of the need of a harvesting operation on a pat...
Ortved KF, Goodale MB, Ober C, Maylin GA, Fortier LA.Orthobiologics such as autologous conditioned serum (ACS) are often used to treat joint disease in horses. Because ACS is generated from the horse's own blood, any medication administered at the time of preparation would likely be present in stored ACS, which could lead to an inadvertent positive drug test following intra-articular (IA) injection. The main objective of this study was to determine if ACS prepared from firocoxib positive horses could result in detectable plasma concentrations of the drug following IA injection. Firocoxib was administered to six horses at 0.1mg/kg PO twice at a 2...
Nakken G, Kirk J, Fjordbakk CT.Autologous conditioned serum (ACS), i.e serum enriched with anti-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors, is a popular orthobiologic therapy used in equine practice. Costly specialized tubes containing glass beads are commonly used for ACS production. The objective of this in vitro study was to compare cytokine and growth factor levels in equine serum after incubation in three different tubes: commercial plastic ACS tubes (COMM); sterile 50 ml plastic centrifugation tubes (CEN); and 10 ml plastic vacutainer tubes (VAC). Blood from 15 healthy horses was incubated in the different tubes at 3...
Garbin LC, Olver CS.Autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a biological preparation made from the patient's own plasma that contains a platelet concentration above the whole blood baseline. Owing to the release of growth factors and other cytokines after degranulation, platelets have a central role in inflammation and in different stages of the healing process. For this reason, PRP-derived products have been used to enhance healing of musculoskeletal injuries and modulate progression of inflammatory processes, including osteoarthritis (OA). Osteoarthritis is one of the main causes of musculoskeletal disabilitie...
Richardson DW, Nunamaker DM, Sigafoos RD.Arthrodesis of the metacarpophalangeal joint was attempted in 9 adult horses, using a new external skeletal fixation device and autogenous cancellous bone graft. Four horses had excellent results, 2 horses had fair results, arthrodesis failed in 2 horses, and 1 horse fractured the third metacarpal bone. The advantages of the technique included minimal surgical trauma to the area of injury, immediate rigid fixation of the metacarpophalangeal joint, and access for treatment of soft-tissue lesions at the site of injury. Although pin loosening and pin-track infection were complications when the de...
Bodurov N, Filipov Zh.Comparative clinical and experimental investigations were carried out on 18 clinically normal horses. It was found that the single transfusion of in vitro UV-treated autogenous blood, following a previously described method, was tolerated well by horses and did not lead to any deviations from the normal indices. Under the effect of the treated blood there was an increase in the hemoglobin content, rise in the erythrocyte and leukocyte count with slightly expressed hyperleukocytosis and weak neutrophilia (simple regeneration of the blood). The sedimentation of erythrocytes also showed higher ra...
Katzman SA, Spriet MP, Beck BR, Barrett MF, Hendrickson DA.A 6-year-old Quarter Horse gelding used for barrel racing was evaluated for acute onset of non-weight-bearing lameness of the left hind limb following strenuous exercise. Nuclear scintigraphic imaging revealed focal increased radiopharmaceutical uptake centrally within the left talus. Subsequent standard radiographic and ultrasonographic examinations of the tarsus failed to identify the cause of the increased radiopharmaceutical uptake; however, the lameness was definitively localized to the tarsocrural joint by intra-articular anesthesia. Subsequent MRI sequences of the left tarsus revealed a...
Schumacher J, Ford TS, Brumbaugh GW, Honnas CM.Full-thickness, circular, cutaneous wounds (4 cm diameter) were created on metacarpi and metatarsi of 5 horses. On day 6, all 4 wounds on each horse received a stored autogenous split-thickness sheet graft. Grafts were obtained from the horse's ventrolateral thorax with a pneumatic dermatome at the time the cutaneous wounds were created. Grafts were coapted to the granulation bed of 2 wounds of each horse with fibrin glue. Grafts were coapted to the cutaneous margin of all 4 wounds of each horse with cyanoacrylate glue. Bandages were changed daily until the study ended at 14 d. When the bandag...
Davis JG, García-López JM.To report the findings and long-term outcome of 76 sport horses with meniscal injury. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Seventy-six horses with 93 meniscal injuries in 85 stifles. Methods: Medical records of sport horses diagnosed with meniscal injury during arthroscopy were reviewed. Owner follow up was obtained via telephone interview ≥1.5 years postoperatively. Preoperative and intraoperative findings, and postoperative treatments, were analyzed for potential association with return to athletic performance. Results: The medial meniscus was involved in 82.8% of cases, with gra...
Geburek F, Stadler P.Conventional treatments of equine tendon injuries lead to an unsatisfactory healing process that usually results in a relatively high recurrence rate. Therefore, in recent years so-called regenerative therapeutics were studied scientifically in vitro and in laboratory animals. These include substances that ideally lead to the formation of replacement tissue, which in contrast to the low quality scar, has similar functional properties as the original intact tendon. Currently, a plethora of different substrates is either commercially available or can be produced in practice with the help of kits...
Textor J.Autologous biologic therapies such as platelet-rich plasma and autologous conditioned serum are in widespread clinical use to treat musculoskeletal pathology in horses. These substances exert a therapeutic effect through the provision of either anabolic or anti-catabolic factors, or a combination of both. This article discusses the history, experimental and clinical literature, and currently accepted preparation and usage strategies for both platelet-rich plasma and autologous conditioned serum.
Barnewitz D, Evers A, Zimmermann J, Wilke I, Kaps C, Sittinger M.Degenerative alterations in fetlock joints of the forelimb are common diagnoses for horses. The hyaline cartilage has a low capacity to regenerate and the treatment by veterinarians is often insufficient. As a final result, horses with articular cartilage defects are often not able to take part in competitions anymore. To establish an autologous cartilage repair method, we set artificial lesions (8 mm in diameter) into the fetlock joints of the forelimb of three horses. These defects were closed with autologous chondrocyte implants, which were fixed with titan-suture-anchors. After 3, 12 and 2...
Kingston JK, Bayly WM, Sides RH.Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage has been associated with reduced performance in racing horses. However, it is unclear what volume of blood loss into the lungs impairs performance. The purpose of the present study was to determine the minimal volume of autologous Horses blood instilled into the airways that significantly affects performance and pulmonary function in exercising horses. Six Thoroughbred horses performed 2 exercise bouts on each of 4 treatment test days. Each exercise bout consisted of a 2 min warm-up at 4 m/s followed by running at a speed equivalent to 115% VO2max, until ...
Rinnovati R, Romagnoli N, Gentilini F, Lambertini C, Spadari A.Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) commonly refers to blood products which contain a higher platelet (PLT) concentration as compared to normal plasma. Autologous PRP has been shown to be safe and effective in promoting the natural processes of soft tissue healing or reconstruction in humans and horses. Variability in PLT concentration has been observed in practice between PRP preparations from different patients or from the same individual under different conditions. A change in PLT concentration could modify PRP efficacy in routine applications. The aim of this study was to test the influence of envi...
Pérez Fraile A, González-Cubero E, Martínez-Flórez S, Olivera ER, Villar-Suárez V.Musculoskeletal injuries in horses have a great economic impact, predominantly affecting tendons, ligaments, and cartilage, which have limited natural regeneration. Cell therapy, which uses mesenchymal stem cells due to their tissue differentiation properties and anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects, aims to restore damaged tissue. In this manuscript, we performed a systematic review using the Parsifal tool, searching the PubMed and Web of Science databases for articles on regenerative medicine for equine musculoskeletal injuries. Our review covers 17 experimental clinical studies ca...
