The Effects of Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy on Elbow Osteoarthritis in Dogs: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been used to treat osteoarthritis (OA), but reported treatment outcomes remain sparse in veterinary medicine. MSC can regenerate and repair damaged tissues and provide anti-inflammatory effects in joints. Recently, adipose derived MSC injected into canine elbows with elbow dysplasia improved lameness and regenerated hyaline cartilage 1 year post-injection. Our objectives were to evaluate treatment using bone marrow (BM)-derived MSC and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) administered intra-articularly into the more affected limb in dogs with bilateral elbow OA.

Materials and Methods: Elbow OA was evaluated using owner, veterinary and objective gait evaluation. A double blinded, randomized, design evaluated BM MSC or placebo (saline) was injected into the injured elbow.

Results: Six dogs completed this pilot study. Three received BMMSC treatment and three the placebo. A significant decrease in peak braking force (−15.6 to −11.2%BW; p < 0.05) was found in the affected limb and decreased peak vertical force (100.8 to 93.0%BW; p < 0.05) and vertical impulse (17.8 to 16.2%BW; p < 0.05) were found in the contralateral limb 12 weeks post injection. An inverse correlation was found between peak propulsion force and owner lameness scores (r = −0.95, p < 0.05). No other significant differences were identified.

Discussion/Conclusion: These pilot results demonstrate that BMMSC injected into an arthritic elbow is safe and revealed some improvements in force plate analysis of gait. A larger sample size and longer post-injection re-evaluation period are required to determine the therapeutic effect of BMMSC.

Acknowledgement: The authors report that this study was funded by a Centers of Excellence (COE) grant.

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).