Autologous AD-MSC [adipose-derived MSC (mesenchymal stem cell)] therapy involves harvesting fat from the patient by isolating the stem and regenerative cells and administering the cells back to the patient. This study evaluated the production of canine AD-MSCs and their possible application in cellular therapy for dogs. To assess whether cellular therapy can replace drug therapy, the clinical effect of a single intra-articular injection of AD-MSCs was evaluated on 4 dogs with lameness associated with OA (osteoarthritis) of the humeroradial joints. MSCs were readily isolated from adult dog adipose tissue, and their ability to form colony and differentiate into various phenotypes was confirmed. AD-MSCs expressed OCT4, NANOG and SOX2 at the mRNA level, pluripotency markers usually ascribed to embryonic stem cells. The results suggest the stemness of the cells isolated from canine fat, and good quality control made them available for both experimental and clinical use. Follow-up studies to evaluate the effects of AD-MSC therapy showed that OA of the elbow joints improved with time, indicating significant potential for clinical use in the treatment of lameness, particularly when administered before the injury becomes severe.

This study provides reference values for total protein concentrations and protein fractions obtained by AGE in goats. Some values vary with age. Age-specific reference intervals are reported in order to provide clinicians with an additional diagnostic aid.

Rectal temperature, heart and respiratory rates, and the course of some blood parameters were monitored in calves during perinatal and neonatal periods. The study was carried out on eight Limousine calves. From all subjects, rectal temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate were measured. Blood samples were taken at the same hour (9am) from the external jugular vein, and then centrifuged and stored until analyses. By means of an UV spectrophotometer, the following blood parameters were assessed for each subject: total protein, total cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), urea, creatinine, cholinesterase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), hydroxybutirate, glutamate pyruvate transaminases (GPT), glutamate oxalacetate transaminases (GOT), direct and total bilirubin, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, chloride and sodium. The results showed a significant effect of days of life (P<0.05) only on total cholesterol, creatinine and GOT during the first week of life and a significant effect of days of life on rectal temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, total cholesterol, NEFA, creatinina, and GOT during the first month of life. A correlation among individual values for postnatal age (days of life) and heart rate in calves during the first month of life was observed. In conclusion, modifications of studied parameters could be attributed to functional development of calves in neonatal period and contribute to the knowledge of adaptation processes in calf during the first week and the first month of life resulting useful for the diagnosis and treatment of any neonatal diseases. Keywords

Adipose tissue as a stem cell source is ubiquitously available and has several advantages compared to other sources, for example it is easily accessible in large quantities with minimal invasive harvesting procedure, and isolation of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) yields a high amount of stem cells, essential for stem cell-based therapies and tissue engineering. We have explored the effect of donor age, and the anatomical origin of the adipose tissue on several aspects of MSCs in dogs, such as cell yield, proliferative ability, multi-differentiation potential, colony-forming capacity, stemness marker expression. We also assessed the effect of cell passaging on the MSCs stemness. We found that the anatomical origin of the adipose tissue and the age of donors have effects only on the proliferative capacity of the MSCs. Moreover, cells show a progressive loss of the stemness characteristics with passages. Cell therapies need a suitable number of cells to use in clinical applications. Characterization of MSCs at different passages, allowed us to demonstrate that, under our culture conditions, the best quantitative and qualitative characteristics are obtained at early passages. Adult MSCs are of particular interest for the therapeutic approach to musculoskeletal diseases, and the dog provides an excellent preclinical model for the development of new approaches in regenerative medicine that might be applied to humans.

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