Stem Cells in Veterinary Medicine—Current State and Treatment Options

Abstract

Regenerative medicine is a branch of medicine that develops methods to grow, repair, or replace damaged or diseased cells, organs or tissues. It has gained significant momentum in recent years. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells with the capability to self-renew and differentiate into tissue cells with specialized functions. Stem cell therapies are therefore used to overcome the body's inability to regenerate damaged tissues and metabolic processes after acute or chronic insult. The concept of stem cell therapy was first introduced in 1991 by Caplan, who proposed that massive differentiation of cells into the desired tissue could be achieved by isolation, cultivation, and expansion of stem cells in in vitro conditions. Among different stem cell types, mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) currently seem to be the most suitable for therapeutic purposes, based on their simple isolation and culturing techniques, and lack of ethical issues regarding their usage. Because of their remarkable immunomodulatory abilities, MSCs are increasingly gaining recognition in veterinary medicine. Developments are primarily driven by the limitations of current treatment options for various medical problems in different animal species. MSCs represent a possible therapeutic option for many animal diseases, such as orthopedic, orodental and digestive tract diseases, liver, renal, cardiac, respiratory, neuromuscular, dermal, olfactory, and reproductive system diseases. Although we are progressively gaining an understanding of MSC behavior and their mechanisms of action, some of the issues considering their use for therapy are yet to be resolved. The aim of this review is first to summarize the current knowledge and stress out major issues in stem cell based therapies in veterinary medicine and, secondly, to present results of clinical usage of stem cells in veterinary patients.

The Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) in Veterinary Medicine and Their Use in Musculoskeletal Disorders

“…Based on the research, it was found that the type of cells, depending on the place of their origin, has a significant impact on the potential of their differentiation in vivo [29,30], as well as on their biologically significant features. Another important aspect in selecting the source of MSCs should be their use in a given therapy.…”

“…If they have MHC II molecules, they can be recognized by recipient CD4+ T cells, leading to either cytotoxic or humoral immune response. In addition, B cells could also produce alloantibody after indirect recognition by antigen presenting cells [29,67].…”

Theranostic Applications of Nanomaterials for Ophthalmic Applications

“…[5] Current theranostic applications of stem cell therapies would be labeling mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with gold nanospheres in vitro for ophthalmic and medical applications, targeting cancer stem cells to use early detection and possible treatment. [6,7,8] In addition to stem cell therapies, there is a wide range of nanotechnology delivery. As listed below, there are various types of forms of nanotechnology.…”

Canine Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cell Conditioned Media Affect Bacterial Growth, Biofilm-Associated Staphylococcus aureus and AHL-Dependent Quorum Sensing

“…Although these MSCs can be derived from several sources, clinical use has favored bone marrow and adipose tissue because of their relative ease of stem cell recovery in large numbers and their minimal donor-site morbidity [ 10 ]. Despite the fact that adipocyte-derived MSCs have a higher ability of proliferation and are more readily available, BM MSCs showed a higher production of paracrine factors [ 14 , 15 ].…”