Journal club resource:

Equine umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells demonstrate safety and efficacy in the treatment of canine osteoarthritis: a randomized placebo-controlled trial

Punzón, E. et al. (2022) Equine umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells demonstrate safety and efficacy in the treatment of canine osteoarthritis: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 260 (15), pp.1947-1955. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.22.06.0237

[Open Access]

Summary

The aim of this blinded, randomised and placebo-controlled study, was to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of equine umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (available in the UK as Dogstem) in the management of dogs with osteoarthritis.

The study was carried out at two veterinary hospitals in Spain and looked at a range of outcomes, including clinical assessment, force platform gait analysis and owner questionnaires.

The results of this study, along with other information available in our In the Spotlight feature on stem cells, will help you to assess the evidence for this form of treatment.

Support with assessing the relevance of this paper

We have produced a guide that you can use to work through this paper as a practice.  For those less confident in assessing published papers there is a partially completed guide.

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Further Reading

inFOCUS: Stem cells – what is the evidence? [RCVS Knowledge] [online] Available from: https://infocus.rcvsknowledge.org/st-stem-cells-what-is-the-evidence/  [Accessed 15 March 2024]

DogStem [European Medicines Agency] [online] Available from: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/veterinary/EPAR/dogstem [Accessed 15 March 2024]

Clinical field studies for animal cells, tissues, and cell- and tissue-based products (ACTPs) [US Food and Drug Administration] [online] Available from: https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/cell-and-tissue-products-animals/clinical-field-studies-animal-cells-tissues-and-cell-and-tissue-based-products-actps [Accessed 15 March 2024]

InFOCUS: COAST Development Group’s international consensus guidelines for the treatment of canine osteoarthritis [RCVS Knowledge] [online] Available from: https://infocus.rcvsknowledge.org/coast-development-groups-international-consensus-guidelines-for-the-treatment-of-canine-osteoarthritis/ [Accessed 15 March 2024]

Pye, C. et al. (2024) Current evidence for non‐pharmaceutical, non‐surgical treatments of canine osteoarthritis. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 65 (1), pp.3-23. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsap.13670