Gene therapy is a rapidly growing field of medicine that involves delivering a specific gene into the body to treat a specific disease. New study results generated from a research company based in Texas add to the body of evidence supporting the use of this technique to treat chronic conditions–such as laminitis–in horses and other large mammals.

In this study, researchers from VGX Animal Health in The Woodlands, Texas, injected horses intramuscularly with a plasmid (a small, nonreplicating fragment of DNA) that contained the gene for growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH)–a potent hormone that can increase the production of both growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1 to offset the development of arthritis and other chronic conditions, including laminitis.

After injecting the hormone, the scientists applied electroporation (delivery of electric pulses through the skin) to temporarily "open" the horse’s cells. This improves the uptake of the plasmid, resulting in enhanced delivery of the GHRH gene