Sunday, November 18, 2007

Autologous Blood Use in Horse Osteoarthritis



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Another subset in "biologics" is the use a (ACS) Autologous Conditioned Serum. This treatment primarily used in Europe, invlolves production of a substance known as IL-1Ra that attacks the effects of arthritis. While this specific treatment is not approved in the U.S., similar treatments using PRP (Platelet rich Plasma) are being used here to address knee arthritis.

A recent study from Colorado State University published in The American Journal of Veterinary Research; demonstrated significant clinical improvements of Horse osteoarthritis affected joints with ACS compared to placebo.

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/ajvr.68.3.290?prevSearch=allfield%3A%28autologous+conditioned+serum%29

The process like PRP, involves drawing blood and spinning it down in a machine called a centrifuge. However, afterwards the blood is incubated at 37 degrees Celsius for 24 hours. The serum is then frozen until use.

This system, is used throughout Europe in professional race horses to treat arthritis. Also, it is used in Dusseldorf Germany on humans for osteoarthritis.

We are using a modified treatment performing a series of 3 PRP injections into the human knee joint under ultrasound guidance at 3 week intervals. We will be reporting on our findings.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am 53 years old and have osteoarthritis in the hip. I am trying to avoid a hip replacement. Has plasma therapy been used in humans for hip osteoarthritis. If so, any success?