By Francisca Olave Campos/franciscaolave @udec.cl | Photographs: Courtesy of the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences
Stem cell research at the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences continues to evolve. The most recent step forward has been made possible thanks to a group of experts led by Dr. Fidel Ovidio Castro, professor of the Department of Animal Science and director of the Doctoral Program in Veterinary Sciences, who is looking for ways to treat very common equine diseases in sport horses, such as osteoarthritis or endometriosis in breeding mares.
Dr. Castro explains that the milestone reached allows stem cells to be implanted or transferred from one patient to another. “We managed to convert mesenchymal stem cells into cells that are quite inert to the immune system, so there is no rejection between different animals. In other words, we managed to make the cells acquire an immunoregulatory phenotype, i.e., they are not rejected by the other individual,” explains the researcher.
Until now, most stem cell research and clinical trials involved the recipient patient being the same person or the same animal as the donor. The new procedure has been possible thanks to the collaboration of UdeC researchers such as Dr. Lleretny Rodríguez, and Dr. Fernando Saravia, and UdeC Doctoral students in Veterinary Medicine, such as José Manríquez and Joel Cabezas. The latter commented on this line of research in his doctoral thesis and is now doing a post-doctorate at the University.
Dr. Fernando Saravia highlighted the importance of the work: “An alternative treatment to traditional therapies is established and, in addition, it is a safe procedure for females, since no adverse reactions occurred in the uterus of the treated mares.” In the case of equine endometriosis, this is a chronic pathology that decreases the fertility of mares and where traditional treatments have failed to reverse the situation, opening the possibilities for the treatment of this disease with stem cells.
Protecting new knowledge
Dr. Fidel Ovidio Castro explains that the results of the research were protected by a patent, submitted to the National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) in 2017. The record requested is called “Preconditioning of mesenchymal stem cells for the acquisition of an immunoregulatory phenotype”, which was granted 4 years later, on November 19th, 2021.
The procedure, which is performed in vitro, has been studied by the team since 2012, driven by the interest of the equine industry. In fact, in recent times this economic sector has been activated, both by the number of equines in the world and the different sports they are involved in.
One question that then stands out is could this technique be replicated in humans? “In principle yes” Dr. Castro replies. “This was done in animal cells, but it could be applicable to people. We have already done it in animals, funded through a FONDEF project that ended in March 2023, where we did clinical trials for two diseases using these cells. The important thing is that at no time was there a rejection of the implanted cells, which is very positive. So, we showed in horses that these stem cells function optimally.” However, the researcher is adamant that moving towards its application in humans requires other conditions. “The patent does not consider humans, i.e., it indicates that this technology could be used in humans, but so far it has not been done, because in human medicine there are more regulations and it is more complex to carry out this type of trials.”
