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Equine asthma is a common respiratory disease of horses, brought on by repeated exposure to dust and moulds. Although the signs may be improved by medical treatment, this is unlikely to achieve a permanent cure.
Doctor Dorothee Bienzle of the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, has been investigating stem cells as a potential treatment option, working with a group of researchers at the University of Slovenia who have expertise in growing stem cells. The research is published in Stem Cell Research and Therapy.
She says, “This is not for the casual investigator because it takes some experience to have the right culture conditions to make sure those cells are clean. They are not cultured for very long, and when the final preparation is administered to an animal, it must be free of cell culture components that could make inflammation worse.”
The study used stem cells derived from subcutaneous fat tissue (“adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells”: AD-MSC), which were placed directly in the lower airway.
Twenty horses with severe equine asthma (SEA) were divided into two groups: ten horses receiving a single application of autologous AD-MSC; and ten given oral dexamethasone daily for three weeks.
Horses were assessed before treatment and three weeks later. The research team also monitored the horses for recurrence of SEA over the following year.
They found that AD-MSC administration improved the clinical score and decreased the expression of inflammatory markers (such a IL-4, IL-1b) in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluid.
It took longer for signs of SEA to return in horses treated with stem cells. The researchers noted exacerbations of SEA in the dexamethasone-treated group shortly after discontinuation of treatment, while most horses in the AD-MSC treated group remained stable for at least 300 days after treatment.
They conclude: “In this study, the intrabronchial application of autologous AD-MSC had a modest short-term therapeutic effect and a possible positive long-term effect on SEA.”
Speaking about the work in an Equine Guelph webcast* Dr Bienzle added: “Stem cell therapy is a proof of concept at this point. It is not widely available and we don’t want to mislead people ..that this is a commonly available therapy. We’re a long way from that, but horses may get there before humans do.”
For more details, see:
Effect of intrabronchial administration of autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal
stem cells on severe equine asthma
Neža Adamič, Sonja Prpar Mihevc, Rok Blagus, Petra Kramarič, Uroš Krapež, Gregor Majdič, Laurent Viel, Andrew M. Hoffman, Dorothee Bienzle and Modest Vengust
Stem Cell Res Ther. 2022; 13: 23.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13287-022-02704-7
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=703&v=cgWk_VWuwdU&feature=emb_logo
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