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Virginia Tech

Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cell for Equine Joint Disease

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) can be debilitating and career-ending for horses. Current treatments offer temporary and symptomatic relief, but potentially deleterious side effects. Bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMNC) are a rich source of macrophage progenitors that are anti-inflammatory and promote inflammation resolution. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of intra-articular BMNC therapy to improve clinical signs of naturally occurring equine OA. Horses presenting with clinical and radiographic evidence of moderate OA in a single joint were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: saline (negative control), triamcinolone (positive control), or BMNC (treatment group). Horses were subjectively and objectively evaluated for lameness and synovial fluid collected (cytology and cytokine/growth factor quantification) at 0, 7, and 21 days post-injection. Data were analyzed using General Estimating Equations with significance set at P<0.05. There were no adverse effects noted in any treatment group. No significant differences in synovial fluid cytology parameters, objective/subjective lameness scores, nor joint circumference were found between treatment groups at any time point. Within treatment groups, joint circumference did not change over time for saline- and triamcinolone-treated horses. However, joint circumference and objective lameness decreased significantly within BMNC-treated horses between Days 0 and 21 and Days 7 and 21. Lameness improved in saline-treated horses from 0 to 21 days, but did not improve in triamcinolone-treated horses. The decreased lameness and lack of adverse effects in the BMNC-treated horses in our study support a larger clinical trial using BMNC.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences
Department dc:contributor.department
Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2020

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Everett, James Blake
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Dahlgren, Linda A.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Bogers, Sophie Helen
  • Pleasant, Robert S.
  • Byron, Christopher R.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:27099
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/108903

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Everett, James Blake. Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cell for Equine Joint Disease. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/108903