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TREATING DEGENERATION
An intra-articular injection into the affected joint
blood cells, including IL-1RA to combat the IL-1, and encouraging damaged muscoskeletal tissues to heal. Effectively then the horse heals itself, a huge potential advantage for hard-pressed trainers trying to juggle horses’ treatment regimes around racing commitments. The treatment involves a veterinary surgeon taking blood from the horse with a special syringe containing specially treated glass beads. The syringe is then incubated for 24 hours during which time white blood cells locate onto the beads and produce the regenerative and anti-inflammatory proteins. After incubation, the syringe is placed into a special centrifuge to separate the serum from the blood clot and create a solution
known as Autologous Conditioned Serum (ACS) – effectively a type of ‘antiinflammatory soup’ with boosted levels of IL-1RA and other regenerative proteins. The ACS is then decanted into three to five vials for later intra-articular injection by the vet into the affected joints of the horse to reduce inflammation and initiate cartilage healing. Typically, three treatments are recommended for optimum clinical effect whilst the horse remains in training or is rested.
Results A study published in 2005 and carried out at Colorado State University examined the
efficacy of the ACS therapy compared to a control (placebo). Sixteen horses were involved in the trial. Eight underwent the ACS therapy and the remaining horses were treated using saline solution. The horses were injected with the protein intra-articularly at weekly intervals for one month and then monitored for therapeutic success until day seventy of the trial. Factors measured included lameness, movement in the joint and a determination of the volume of synovial fluid. The study demonstrated that compared to the control group the horses treated with the new therapy showed improvement in lameness and swelling. Further examination histologically
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