Frontiers in Veterinary Science (Jul 2023)

Intensive neurorehabilitation and allogeneic stem cells transplantation in canine degenerative myelopathy

  • Débora Gouveia,
  • Débora Gouveia,
  • Débora Gouveia,
  • Jéssica Correia,
  • Jéssica Correia,
  • Ana Cardoso,
  • Ana Cardoso,
  • Carla Carvalho,
  • Ana Catarina Oliveira,
  • Ana Catarina Oliveira,
  • António Almeida,
  • Óscar Gamboa,
  • Lénio Ribeiro,
  • Mariana Branquinho,
  • Mariana Branquinho,
  • Mariana Branquinho,
  • Ana Sousa,
  • Ana Sousa,
  • Ana Sousa,
  • Bruna Lopes,
  • Bruna Lopes,
  • Bruna Lopes,
  • Patrícia Sousa,
  • Patrícia Sousa,
  • Patrícia Sousa,
  • Alícia Moreira,
  • Alícia Moreira,
  • Alícia Moreira,
  • André Coelho,
  • André Coelho,
  • André Coelho,
  • Alexandra Rêma,
  • Alexandra Rêma,
  • Alexandra Rêma,
  • Rui Alvites,
  • Rui Alvites,
  • Rui Alvites,
  • Rui Alvites,
  • António Ferreira,
  • António Ferreira,
  • António Ferreira,
  • Ana Colette Maurício,
  • Ana Colette Maurício,
  • Ana Colette Maurício,
  • Ângela Martins,
  • Ângela Martins,
  • Ângela Martins

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1192744
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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IntroductionDegenerative myelopathy (DM) is a neurodegenerative spinal cord disease with upper motor neurons, with progressive and chronic clinical signs, similar to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). DM has a complex etiology mainly associated with SOD1 gene mutation and its toxic role, with no specific treatment. Daily intensive rehabilitation showed survival time near 8 months but most animals are euthanized 6–12 months after clinical signs onset.MethodsThis prospective controlled blinded cohort clinical study aims to evaluate the neural regeneration response ability of DM dogs subjected to an intensive neurorehabilitation protocol with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation. In total, 13 non-ambulatory (OFS 6 or 8) dogs with homozygous genotype DM/DM and diagnosed by exclusion were included. All were allocated to the intensive neurorehabilitation with MSCs protocol (INSCP) group (n = 8) or to the ambulatory rehabilitation protocol (ARP) group (n = 5), which differ in regard to training intensity, modalities frequency, and MSCs transplantation. The INSCP group was hospitalized for 1 month (T0 to T1), followed by MSCs transplantation (T1) and a second month (T2), whereas the ARP group was under ambulatory treatment for the same 2 months.ResultsSurvival mean time of total population was 375 days, with 438 days for the INSCP group and 274 for the ARP group, with a marked difference on the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. When comparing the literature's results, there was also a clear difference in the one-sample t-test (p = 0.013) with an increase in time of approximately 70%. OFS classifications between groups at each time point were significantly different (p = 0.008) by the one-way ANOVA and the independent sample t-test.DiscussionThis INSCP showed to be safe, feasible, and a possibility for a long progression of DM dogs with quality of life and functional improvement. This study should be continued.

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