.
Nostrils flaring, ears pricked, Solid Gold shifted nervously as the vet stroked his injured foreleg.

The three-year-old racehorse had no way of knowing this injection would save his career, not end it.

While debate rages over the ethics of stem cell research for humans, a Singapore-based firm has given Asian racehorse owners a new weapon in the battle against career-threatening tendon and ligament injuries.

After harvesting bone marrow from the horse’s sternum, EZ Stemcell separates multi-potential stem cells, which are then injected directly into the injured tendon.

This cutting-edge technology will not only revolutionise the way injured horses are treated, says Dr Omie Rangabashyam, but two-legged patients could one day be treated in a similar way.

“By injecting the stem cells directly into the core lesion, the tendon will regain its integrity, will regain its strength, without the fibrous scar tissue that forms with conventional treatment,” Rangabashyam, a director of EZ Stemcell, told Reuters as he tried to calm the horse.

“Without stem cell therapy, Solid Gold would have been rested for a year, raced again and the tendon would probably tear again.

“That would be the end of him.”

COOL CURED

Following a few days’ box rest, Solid Gold will undergo a programme of gentle walks and exercise to get the tendon working as normal. He should be doing solid work on the track in about seven months, said Rangabashyam.

The treatment has already been used in Britain to some success, with the Martin Pipe-trained Mr Cool receiving stem cell therapy after injuring a tendon in March 2004.

The hurdler returned to competitive racing a year later and went on to win on its second outing after the procedure.

EZ Stemcell had already been approached by owners throughout Asia and Australia and the firm was looking into the possibility of expanding into the lucrative Dubai racing scene.

For owners and trainers in Singapore, where the racing calendar peaks with the $3 million Singapore Airlines International Cup, counting the cost of injuries runs into millions of dollars.

Rangabashyam, who owns more than 30 horses stabled at the Singapore Turf Club, paid 500,000 Singapore dollars ($308,600) for a German horse that has since run just twice in 2 ¸ years because of a succession of injuries.

A stem cell shot costs 2,888 Singapore dollars.

Mark Clements was the first trainer in Singapore to have a horse treated with stem cells.

“The traditional way to treat a horse with a tendon problem was rest — throw it in the stable and forget about it for a year,” the Zimbabwe native told Reuters at the Turf Club.

“They were also injecting various drugs into the injury, which never really worked.

“They had limited success with injecting raw bone marrow but the results with stem cells are on a different level.

“No scar tissue means the tendon gets its elasticity back, which means the horse’s movement, and ultimately its speed, is virtually unaffected.”

ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

The benefits of stem cell therapy may one day reach far beyond racing circles.

Doctors in Thailand have been using an experimental procedure to treat heart patients with adult stem cells harvested from their own blood, bypassing both the risk of rejection and the controversial subject of embryonic stem cell use.

Some people oppose the use of embryonic stem cells, saying a human life must be destroyed to grow the cells.

Companies in the United States are also exploring the commercial potential for stem cells as treatment for diseases such as diabetes.

Rangabashyam, a liver specialist at Singapore’s Gleneagles hospital, says the green light for using stem cells in the treatment of liver disease is not far off.

“Soon we’ll have it for acute liver disease, for acute renal disease. There’s trials going on in the U.S. for the treatment of neurological disease,” he added.

Another Singapore firm was storing umbilical cords of newborns so that they could perhaps one day be used to cure them of disease or injury.

“The physiology of all living things is the same. With stem cells, anything is possible.”

……

The University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has opened a stem-cell laboratory for horses.

The Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital allows for processing, culturing and storing stem cells for horses.The stem-cell lab is one of only four nationwide, and is available to clients and referring veterinarians.

“We are excited to be able to offer this new clinical service to our clients for their horses as a complement to our stem-cell research program,” veterinary medicine school dean Bennie Osburn said. “Stem cell science is leading us into a new era in human and veterinary medicine.”

Regenerative medicine involves creating living, functional tissues to repair or replace tissues or organs that have been damaged by injury, disease or birth defects. Stem cells can be collected and become specific cell types, such as muscle, blood and nerves.

“The stem cell, with its ability to recreate, repair or revitalize damaged organs or tissues, is rapidly changing all of medicine,” said Gregory Ferraro, a veterinary professor and director of UC Davis’ Center for Equine Health. “The application of stem cell science to treating horses is advancing so quickly that with three to five years, the treatments that are currently being provided for orthopedic repair in athletic horses will seem crude in hindsight.”

The UC Davis lab will collect stem cells from the horse’s own blood or bone marrow, and not embryonic stem cells — a controversial issue for human and veterinary medicine.

Horses have benefited from stem-cell therapy in recent years, especially from diseases such as colic and neuromuscular degeneration, burns and other injuries.

“The marvelous thing about stem-cell therapy is that it holds the promise of a cure,” said Sean Owens, a veterinary professor and director of the Regenerative Medicine Laboratory. “We can use pharmacological medicine to alleviate the pain associated with orthopedic injuries in horses, but only with biological medicine such as stem-cell therapy can we actually repair the damage that has already been done.”

The lab, located on the first floor of the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, will support the clinical area of the veterinary stem cell program. Private veterinarians can harvest stem cells from the lab for their patients and return the cells for processing or storage. Some of the horses undergoing stem-cell therapy treatment could be referred to the teaching hospital.

Stem cell processing and treatment costs will vary. The fee for processing and expansion of a bone marrow sample will be about $1,800. Stem cell injections for most patients will cost about $1,500.

….