Stem Cell Research and Your Dog
By Kim Ribbink, Studio One Networks
Stem cell research often conjures images of political firestorms and
futuristic science, yet it's a field that's already offering hope for
humans and dogs alike. While the ideal of fixing spinal injuries and
curing disease may be a long way off, dogs treated with stem cells
are enjoying a new lease on life.
Pepper, a 10-year-old standard poodle, is a case in point. Crippled
with arthritis in both his hips, Pepper came to James Gaynor, DVM,
M.S., medical director of Animal Anesthesia & Pain Management Center
in Colorado Springs, Colo., with his owners, who fully expected to
have to put their pet to sleep. Conventional treatments hadn't
worked, or had made their dog even sicker. In fact, Pepper's owners
were so certain nothing could be done that they bought another
puppy. "At our 60 day recheck, the owner was hugging me and crying
out of happiness because, in her words, we gave her back her dog,"
Dr. Gaynor says. "The only problem was she now had Pepper and a
puppy."
Healthy Bones
It wasn't long ago that dogs like Pepper with arthritis had few
options beyond conventional anti-inflammatory treatments -- including
a variety of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as
Metacam, Previcox, Rimadyl and phenylbutazone; steroid medications
such as Prednisone; and disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs
(DMOADs) such as Adequan Canine -- that sometimes don't work. Now
stem cells are providing an alternative. One California-based
company, Vet-Stem, uses stem cells from dogs' own fat to treat
animals in pain.
According to Julie Ryan Johnson, DVM, vice president of sales and
marketing, studies have shown that fat is very rich with stem cells,
making it an ideal source, and one that is nearly free from
controversy, given that most of us don't mind having a bit of fat
removed. "The way we do this is a veterinarian will send us a sample
of the dog's fat," Dr. Ryan Johnson says. "We isolate the stem cells
from that and then send the stem cells back to the veterinarian who
injects them back into the dog -- for example, into an arthritic hip
or elbow."
Once in the dog, the stem cells communicate with other cells in their
environment. While it's not known exactly how they work, they do
decrease the dog's pain level. "It's provided the veterinarian with
another solution for helping these animals that have pain or
difficulty moving," Dr. Ryan Johnson says. "Most importantly, for the
dog and the dog owner, it offers quality of life."
The Possibilities
Richard Vulliet, Ph.D., DVM, professor and director of the Laboratory
of Veterinary Cytotherapeutics at UC Davis, says stem cells haven't
cured any diseases yet, but researchers are working hard to change
that. "I think that stem cells in general will rewrite the medical
textbooks in the next 10 to 20 years," Dr. Vulliet says. "They will
have an impact on human, canine, feline and equine health and will
allow us to treat diseases that we can only dream about at this time."
Tony Kremer, DVM, an Illinois-based veterinary surgeon, says that as
research progresses into the origin of diseases, there is hope that
stem cell therapy might one day be used to treat diabetes and
muscular dystrophy in dogs. "It is hoped that this research can
repair or replace diseased organs, severed spinal cords, or brain
cells destroyed by Alzheimer's disease in humans and dogs," he says.
Dr. Vulliet works with adult bone marrow stem cells to investigate
potential cures for diseases that cause misery for many dogs. Your
dog may soon be able to get breakthrough treatment in the following
areas:
degenerative myelopathy, a debilitating autoimmune disease that
attacks the central nervous system, particularly of German Shepherds;
enlarged and weakened hearts in Dobermans;
lung and metabolic disorders.
"In the past several years, we have developed methods for recovering
a therapeutic amount of bone marrow stem cells and safe, relatively
non-intrusive methods for administering the cells," he says. "We are
now starting to enroll patients in these areas." In terms of fat-
derived stem cells, progress has been made in several areas of canine
health, including muscle inflammation and a disease known as immune-
mediated anemia, which is when the immune system destroys red blood
cells, leaving your dog weak and listless.
There has been a lot of excitement over umbilical cord blood banks --
centers that collect and store the blood from the placenta and
umbilical cord after birth as a future source for blood stem cells --
but don't expect that to translate to the dog world anytime
soon. "When the puppies are born, you would have to match that
umbilical cord to the puppy and that might be a little complicated
since there are often multiple puppies in a litter," Dr. Ryan Johnson
says.
Taking the Plunge
If you are going to consider stem cell therapy for your dog, it pays
to think ahead. "The fat in the abdomen holds stem cells so my
recommendation is if, for example, a female dog is going to be
spayed, as long as someone is in there, grab that fat, ship it to the
lab and bank those stem cells," Dr. Gaynor says.
You'll also want to think about the risks involved in putting your
dog through stem cell therapy. Dr. Vulliet says putting safety first
is the primary concern. After it was found that injecting stem cells
into the coronary arteries of university-owned dogs created mini
heart attacks, the procedures were stopped until the technique had
been improved.
According to Dr. Gaynor, there are three things to consider. The
first is the same as any operation -- the general risks associated
with anesthesia needed to perform the procedure. "But there always is
some anesthesia risk, especially as patients get older and sicker,
but we can minimize that with good anesthesia," he says. The second
is the risk posed by the surgery itself. The biggest health threat he
has seen is fluid pockets forming at the site of the surgery, which
is a relatively minor problem.
Finally, there are the stem cells themselves. "Because they are the
dog's own stem cells, there's virtually no risk," he says. "The
biggest thing we've seen is a few dogs whose nails grow faster than
expected; that's as bad as it seems to get." With the benefits likely
outweighing the risks, there's a good chance that many dog owners,
perhaps even you, will be exploring canine stem cell treatments in
the not-too-distant future.
Copyright (c) 2007 Studio One Networks. All rights reserved.
About The Author: Kim Ribbink is a freelance writer and editor based
in Perth, Australia, who specializes in health care and the life
sciences, as well as pets. She has been a journalist for 20 years,
working for magazines, newspapers and online publications covering a
broad range of topics.
http://www.localnew
S=7537761&nav=
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
____________________________________________
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment