The research article indicates that in the production of autologous conditioned serum (ACS) for equine therapy, the use of expensive specialized containers containing glass beads may not be necessary. Instead, common plastic tubes, such as centrifugal and vacutainer tubes, could yield similar results and significantly cut down the cost of ACS treatment.

Objective and Methodology

• The study aimed to test if the special containers usually used to produce ACS were ultimately necessary. ACS is serum enriched with anti-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors. It’s commonly used for treating horse injuries and conditions, but the traditional method of preparation involves using costly specialized tubes.
• The researchers compared the levels of cytokines and growth factors in equine serum incubated in three different types of tubes: commercial plastic ACS tubes (referred to as COMM), sterile 50 ml plastic centrifugation tubes (CEN), and 10 ml plastic vacutainer tubes (VAC).
• Blood samples from 15 healthy horses were placed in these different tubes and incubated at 37°C for 22-24 hours.
• The specific cytokines and growth factors measured were IL-1β, IL-1Ra, IL-10, IGF-1, and PDGF-BB. These were determined using ELISA (a common test for measuring substances at a molecular level).

Findings

• The study found no significant difference in the concentration of IL-1Ra and IGF-1 between the CEN and COMM tubes.
• PDGF-BB concentration was found to be higher in the CEN tube compared to the COMM tube.
• Both IL-1Ra and PDGF-BB were found at higher concentrations, whereas IGF-1 was lower in the VAC tube compared to the other types of tubes.

Implications

• The study suggests that the centrifuge tube (CEN), a common and less costly alternative, performs similarly to the specialized (and more expensive) commercial ACS tube in enriching the serum with cytokines and growth factors.
• This finding can significantly reduce the cost of producing ACS, thus making this treatment more affordable and possibly accessible to a greater number of horses.
• Overall, the study disputes the need for blood incubation in specialized ACS containers during the production of cytokine-rich equine serum.