Stem cell therapy for treating dog's spinal cord injury

This was the first time in the country that autologous (derived from patients) stem cell therapy had been used for management of a dog’s spinal cord injury, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University orthopedic and neuro surgeon, S Iyappan, said here on Wednesday.

“The present case highlights an encouraging response to autologous stem cell-based therapy combined with decompressive hemilaminectomy for management of a grade 4 spinal cord injury of a dog for the first time in India,” Iyappan, who was part of the team that conducted the

surgery on the Boxer, claimed.

The dog was brought to the Madras Veterinary College Teaching Hospital, TANUVAS, with a spinal cord injury in a road accident and subsequent paraplegia (paralysis of lower half of the body). It was treated with the adult stem cells harvested from its bone marrow. Forty million bone marrow mononuclear stem cells (BMMNSCs) were separated and 20 million stem cells embedded in thermo responsive gelatin polymer hydrogel at the Nichi-Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

The dog recently underwent decompressive left hemilaminectomy under general anaesthesia after which a durotomy (opening covering of the spinal cord) was performed, Iyappan said.

“The BMMNSCs embedded gel was engrafted over the durotomy site and the surgical procedure was completed as per routine protocol,” he said, adding a periodic neurological evaluation was performed from the first post-operative week.