Equine athletes commonly need supportive care for their musculoskeletal system, particularly their joints. Joint therapies were the topic of discussion at a packed table topic at the 2014 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 6-10 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Lane Easter, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, of Performance Equine Associates, in Thackerville, Oklahoma; and Ashlee Watts, DVM, PhD, assistant professor at Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, in College Station, led the conversation.

Initially, Watts had prepared to talk about the evergreen topic of treating injured or arthritic joints with hyaluronic acid and corticosteroids. Instead, one of the key topics was the use of stem cells in joints.

The audience first discussed how stem cell injections to treat joint pain or damage have improved. When veterinarians first began using this treatment method, they noticed profound joint flare reactions. However, current preparation of autologous (from the horse’s own body) stem cells instead of fetal bovine serum (the old approach) has markedly reduced flare reactions.

Watts explained that stem cells actually stimulate IRAP (interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein) production in the joint (which blocks inflammatory protein products that stimulate pain, inflammation, cartilage degradation, and lameness associated with osteoarthritis), as well as growth factors similar to what is achieved with plasma-rich protein (PRP), so they give multiple benefits