Insights into animal models for cell-based therapies in translational studies of lung diseases: Is the horse with naturally occurring asthma the right choice?

The research article suggests a shift from traditional animal models like rats and mice to horses in studying human asthma for therapy testing. Due to the remarkably similar characteristics of Severe Equine Asthma (SEA) and human asthma, using horses as models could be beneficial in driving advancements in tissue repair and new therapeutic methods, such as cell therapy.

Overview of Human Asthma and Current Treatments

• Human asthma is a prevalent disease linked to chronic inflammation in the airways, causing significant reductions in patients’ quality of life.
• The most common treatment for asthmatic patients is corticosteroid administration, which controls airway obstruction and improves quality of life. Nevertheless, in many patients, symptoms persist despite treatment.
• Existing therapies have been unable to undo the lung damage caused by asthma.

Current Animal Models in Asthma Research

• Traditionally, animal models used in asthma research have primarily been rats and mice.
• The disease is artificially induced in these animals to identify new potential therapeutic targets for human asthma.

The Potential of Horses as Alternative Animal Models

• The article introduces horses as possible alternative animal models, given the striking similarities between naturally occurring asthma in equines and human asthma.
• Severe equine asthma (SEA) is characterized by reversible bronchospasms and accumulation of a particular type of white blood cell (neutrophils) in the lungs. It is driven primarily by a type of immune response known as Th2.
• Furthermore, the way lung tissues change in SEA is very similar to what is observed in human asthma, making horses a potentially unique model for studying tissue repair and new treatments.

Possibilities of Cell Therapy

• Cell therapy, specifically employing mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and their derivatives (conditioned medium and extracellular vesicles), is proposed as a novel therapeutic method for tissue regeneration.
• Unlike conventional treatments, which mainly modulate the ongoing inflammatory process, cell therapy may allow repair or regeneration at the injury site and decrease the reaction to allergens.