Diabetes mellitus (DM) remains a global concern in both human and veterinary medicine. Type I DM requires prolonged and consistent exogenous insulin administration to address hyperglycemia, which can increase the risk of diabetes complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, and heart disorders. Cell-based therapies have been successful in human medicine using the Edmonton protocol. These therapies help maintain the production of endogenous insulin and stabilize blood glucose levels and may possibly be adapted to veterinary clinical practice. The limited number of cadaveric pancreas donors and the long-term use of immunosuppressive agents are the main obstacles for this protocol. Over the past decade, the development of potential therapies for DM has mainly focused on the generation of effective insulin-producing cells (IPCs) from various sources of stem cells that can be transplanted into the body. Another successful application of stem cells in type I DM therapies is transplanting generated IPCs. Encapsulation can be an alternative strategy to protect IPCs from rejection by the body due to their immunoisolation properties. This review summarizes current concepts of IPCs and encapsulation technology for veterinary clinical application and proposes a potential stem-cell-based platform for veterinary diabetic regenerative therapy.

Background: Surgical method of choice for functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) is debatable, since recurrence of FMR post-annuloplasty has been reported in a significant number of cases. Developing a pulsatile FMR heart model by left ventricular dilatation can be a favorable option for usage in the primary stages of developing new surgical techniques that adjunctively targets the posterior papillary muscle (PPM) geometry.Methods: PPM of ex vivo ovine hearts (N = 22) was displaced by three different sizes of patches to induce left ventricular dilatation and FMR. Mitral regurgitation (MR) flow, left ventricular and annular geometry were measured from the dynamic pulsatile flow system before and after patch placement.Results: Outward displacement of PPM was significantly increased in all patch sizes compared to baseline (P = .016, P = .031, and P = .008 from small to large patch, respectively). Left ventricular volume (LVV) significantly increased from 18.53 (15.01-26.03) mL at baseline to 27.5 (19.45-42.46) mL after large patch placement (P = .031). However, the small and medium patch groups did not show significant changes in the LVV after patch placement. MR significantly increased 554 (185-1,919.3) mL/min after applying the large patch compared to baseline (P = .016). There were no significant changes from baseline in MR flow after applying the small and medium patch. Application of the large patch produced the highest proportion of FMR heart models (87.5%, P = .031).Conclusion: The large patch ex vivo pulsatile heart model demonstrated outward displacement of the PPM and significantly produced MR flow. This ex vivo pulsatile heart model can be used to facilitate surgical techniques that targets the PPM displacement in FMR patients.

Background: High recurrent functional ischemic mitral regurgitation (FIMR) has been observed after annuloplasty. Since annuloplasty alone could not prevent late recurrent FIMR or improve the survival rate after CABG, adjunctive subvalvular opt for better treatment tailored for each individual patient. Methods: Ex vivo ovine heart models with annular dilatation and PPM displacement were used for analysis of mitral regurgitation (MR) flow, left ventricular and annular geometry after treatment by mitral annular reduction alone (MA, nMA = 12) or combined with epicardial PPM repositioning (MA+PPM, nMA+PPM=13). Results: MR significantly was reduced from baseline in both the MA (P = .03) and MA+PPM (P = .02) groups, but was not significantly different between the groups. The septo-lateral mitral annular distance decreased after applying both methods (MA group P = .005; MA+PPM group P = .05). The tethering α angle of the APM in the frontal plane significantly increased from baseline in the MA+PPM group (P = .027). Furthermore, the MA+PPM group had a larger APM and PPM α angle in the frontal plane compared with the MA group after reducing the MR (P = .04). There were no statistically significant changes in tethering angles found in the MA group compared with baseline. MR reduction correlated with percentage decrease of septo-lateral mitral annular distance (rs = 0.51, P = .01), the percentage decrease of fibrosa-PPM distance (rs = 0.43, P = .03), and the percentage increase of the PPM anterior displacement (rs = -0.41, P = .04). Conclusion: The decreased tethered angle of the PPM referred to the annulus, and the decreased interpapillary muscles distance suggested the PPM was repositioned inward and toward the septal annulus by the epicardial pushing pad. Epicardial repositioning of the PPM adjunct with mitral annular reduction facilitated leaflet coaptation without the risk of overlying restriction of the mitral annular orifice.