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Regenerative medicine for the treatment of musculoskeletal overuse injuries in competition horses

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Abstract

Purpose

Tissue repair in musculoskeletal injuries is often a slow and sometimes incomplete process. Regenerative medicine based on the use of growth factors (GFs) and cell therapy is aimed at improving the quality and speed of tendon and ligament healing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential for the administration of a combination of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and freshly isolated bone marrow mononucleated cells (BMMNCs) in 13 competition horses affected by overuse musculoskeletal injuries (suspensory ligament desmopathy and superficial flexor tendinopathy) and refractory to other therapies.

Methods

After ultrasonographic localisation of the lesion, the autologous BMMNC suspension and PRP were injected directly into the core lesion. BMMNC and platelet count as well as growth factors in PRP were measured to determine factors influencing the clinical outcome.

Results

Horses showed a marked improvement in their degree of lameness and 84.6% were able to return to competition. Among all the factors studied, the platelet concentration predicted the healing time: significantly faster recovery (p = 0.049) was observed in cases of PRP with more than 750 × 103/μl platelets.

Conclusions

Competition horses are involved in highly demanding activities, thus being a similar model for the high mechanical overload typical of human athletes. The promising results obtained suggest that this combined biological approach may be useful even for the treatment of recalcitrant overuse musculoskeletal injuries in highly demanding patients if the appropriate dose of cells and GFs is applied.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the project “Regione Emilia Romagna Programma di Ricerca Regione-Università 2007–2009” (Regenerative Medicine in Osteoarticular Disease).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Preclinical and Surgical Studies, Research Institute Codivilla-Putti, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Via di Barbiano 1/10, 40136, Bologna, Italy

    Paola Torricelli, Milena Fini, Matilde Tschon & Roberto Giardino

  2. Laboratory of Biomechanics and Technology Innovation– III Clinic, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Via di Barbiano 1/10, 40136, Bologna, Italy

    Giuseppe Filardo & Elizaveta Kon

  3. Veterinary Studio, via Marzabotto 12, Rastignano, Bologna, Italy

    Mario Pischedda & Alessandra Pacorini

Authors
  1. Paola Torricelli
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  2. Milena Fini
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  3. Giuseppe Filardo
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  4. Matilde Tschon
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  5. Mario Pischedda
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  6. Alessandra Pacorini
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  7. Elizaveta Kon
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  8. Roberto Giardino
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizaveta Kon.

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Torricelli, P., Fini, M., Filardo, G. et al. Regenerative medicine for the treatment of musculoskeletal overuse injuries in competition horses. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 35, 1569–1576 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-011-1237-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-011-1237-3

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