SAN DIEGO, June 14 (UPI) -- Maybe the debate stem-cell treatment for humans should have some horse sense, says a company in California that treats racehorses with stem-cell therapy.
Veterinarian Bob Harman, chief executive officer of the San Diego-based Vet-Stem, says his company has treated 4,141 horses for soft-tissue injuries with a success rate of 70 percent to 80 percent, PopSci reported Tuesday.
"Orthopedically, the horse is a disaster waiting to happen," Harman said. "They're so big -- a 1,000-pound animal on little toothpick legs -- and they're working at high capacity."
Physicians generally reserve stem-cell therapy, which draws on stem cells' unique ability to regenerate and adapt into nearly any tissue, for patients with major medical problems. Veterinarians, however, are "in a unique position to try stem-cell treatments for quality-of-life problems," said Thomas Koch of the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College.
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Koch acknowledges there are many unanswered questions about veterinary stem-cell treatments and the science isn't completely understood. Companies such as Vet-Stem are working ahead of the evidence.
Veterinarian David Frisbie of Colorado State University told PopSci he has rehabilitated more than 1,500 horses' tendon and ligament injuries using mesenchymal stem cells, found in the body's connective tissues. Some of these cells morphed into new, healthy tissue, while others seem to be "acting as policemen, coordinating healing," Frisbie says.
Veterinarian Sean Owens, director of the Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at the University of California-Davis, is conducting his own, very specific, stem-cell rehab trials on horses, based on what tests on humans might look like, PopSci reported.
"Our clinical trials are proof-of-concept that researchers working on human stem cells can cite," Owens said. "So we can move toward trials on humans."
