FED: Stem cells giving Australian dogs new leash on life
By Danny Rose, Medical Writer20 Mar 2009 3:15 PM
Subject: FED: Stem cells giving Australian dogs new leash on life FED: Stem cells giving Australian dogs new leash on life
SYDNEY, March 20 AAP - Old dogs are being given the ability to walk freely again thanks to medical science's newest trick - stem cells.
A Sydney veterinary clinic has developed an Australian-first technique which gleans "adult" stem cells from a dog's own fat.
The stem cells, which have the unique ability to turn into a variety of different cells or tissues, are then injected into the dog's arthritic joints with positive immediate and longer-term results.
"What we see is a pretty rapid, within the first couple of days, reduction in the animal's pain and inflammation," University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Associate Professor Ben Herbert said.
"We see animals that are a lot happier, then you go into a zone where the science tells us we are actually getting new cartilage.
"Longer term, going out now to the dogs treated nine and 10 months ago, those dogs are still improving."
Dr Herbert said it was important to note his work was the practical application of findings from a range of published scientific literature.
The treatment, at Ku-Ring-Gai Veterinary Hospital, has been available for less than a year and about 60 dogs, some coming from across the country, have had the injections so far.
One of those is "Cassie", a 12-year-old border collie-cross who has taken to chasing possums again since having the injections.
"Before, going for a walk would be a bit of an ordeal, now we can do a walk any day of the week," said Elizabeth Beyer, who brought Cassie in to the vet for a check-up recently.
"Her hips have improved, she's walking faster ... she chases possums and what ever else comes in the garden.
"It's about quality of life."
The treatment costs between $5,000 to $6,000 but dogs that receive it, like Cassie, no longer need to be on a long-term course of anti-inflammation or pain-killing drugs which also add up in cost over the years.
And because the stem cells are derived from the dog's own tissue, its immune system does not go to work trying to kill off the injected cells.
"These are the patient's own cells, it's effectively a transplant and it's this idea of switching on the body's own regenerative system," said Dr Herbert, who is director of the university's Proteomics Technology Centre of Expertise.
The technique, where the patient is both donor and recipient of a stem cell "transplant", offers the prospect of new treatments which don't rely on suppressing the immune system with its often debilitating side-effects.
This is another reason why stem cells are considered to be one of the most exciting and promising fields of medical science.
US President Barack Obama this month moved to lift America's eight-year ban on federal funding for research involving embryonic stem cells, which have the ability to transform into an even wider array of cells than stem cells derived from adult tissues.
Federal funding to create new lines of embryonic stem cells remains prohibited, but US scientists are now free to work with new stem cell lines acquired from private laboratories such as fertility clinics.
Global efforts in this field are hoped to lead to new treatments for multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, even cancer.
Dr Herbert said his research team at UTS was working on a similar stem cell treatment for dogs with kidney disease and, regulatory hurdles aside, there was no science-based reason why it should not also work in people.
"This has given us the opportunity to immediately translate early stage research into the clinic, and get real clinical data - it's on dogs and cats, but it's in the real world," he said.
"There is nothing really different about doing that in a human to doing it in a dog ... (but) the regulatory regime is easier to deal with in dogs."
AAP dr/srp/bwl =0A
FED: Stem cells giving Australian dogs new leash on life