Avaliação clínica e ultra-sonográfica de dois protocolos de terapia celular no reparo do ligamento suspensório em eqüinos

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate two protocols of cellular therapy in suspensory ligament repair, one using cells from bone marrow and the other using cells from adipose tissue. The lesion in the suspensory ligament was surgically produced with a biopsy punch with 0.6cm diameter, in six horses. A different treatment was applied in each leg of all horses as follow: injection of 0,9% NaCl isotonic saline in the positive control group (GCP), cells originated by adipose tissue culture (GTA) or cells from bone marrow, or even no kind of treatment (GCN). Horses were evaluated by clinical and ultrasonografic examination for a 77-days period. The method induced homogenous lesions that were easily identified by ultrasound. No effect on animal locomotion and feeding was observed. There were mild clinical alterations, not different among groups or times of observation (P > 0,05). An increase in the ligament was observed early in GCN and later in GMO and GTA groups, however there were no significant changes in dimensions and echogenicity of the lesions. Although the physical and ultrasonografic exams did not show any differences among groups, other further studies using the collected tissue were necessary to evaluate any possible effect of the treatments. In conclusion, the method was considered effective in producing ligament lesions without significant effects in horses health and the therapeutic cellular protocols used did not produced clinical adverse effects compared to the control groups