Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Stem cell therapy research for dogs with spinal cord injuries
By Chow, Lyndah et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2020·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Generation of Neural Progenitor Cells From Canine Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Preliminary Safety Test in Dogs With Spontaneous Spinal Cord Injuries.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Two dogs with chronic spinal cord injuries received injections of neural progenitor cells (NPC) made from their own induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). After the injections, follow-up MRI scans showed no tumor formation at the injection sites, which is a positive sign. However, neither dog showed any significant improvement in their condition after the treatment. This research suggests that while the NPC injections are safe, more work is needed to make this type of stem cell therapy effective for dogs with spinal cord injuries.
People also search for: dog spinal cord injury treatment · stem cell therapy for dogs · canine induced pluripotent stem cells
Abstract
Advances in stem cell technology, including the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to produce neurons and glial cells, offer new hope for patients with neurological disease and injuries. Pet dogs with spinal cord injuries provide an important spontaneous animal model for evaluating new approaches to stem cell therapy. Therefore, studies were conducted to identify optimal conditions for generating neural progenitor cells (NPC) from canine induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) for preliminary evaluation in animals with spinal cord injury. We found that canine NPC could be induced to differentiate into mature neural cells, including glia and neurons. In addition, canine NPC did not form teratomas when injected in NOD/SCID mice. In a pilot study, two dogs with chronic spinal cord injury underwent fluoroscopically guided intrathecal injections of canine NPC. In follow-up MRI evaluations, tumor formation was not observed at the injection sites. However, none of the animals experienced meaningful clinical or electrophysiological improvement following NPC injections. These studies provide evidence that canine iPSC can be used to generate NPC for evaluation in cellular therapy of chronic spinal cord injury in the dog spontaneous injury model. Further refinements in the cell implantation procedure are likely required to enhance stem cell treatment efficacy.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33251262/