Veterinary Highlights: Were All Stem Cell Treatments Created Equal?

Stem cell treatment is gaining popularity. When we were considering it for Jasmine few years ago, it was hard to find much information or a veterinarian who had any experience with it.

Today, every other veterinary clinic in town has a big sign promoting stem cell treatment.

Jasmine had her treatments done through Vet-Stem, who have pioneered the treatment for dogs. Today, in-house kits are available to veterinarians.

Were all stem cell treatments created equal?

A study performed as independent research by INCELL indicates that perhaps not.

The study shows that incorrect counting of adipose derived SVF cells and the subset of regenerative stem cells can subsequently result in inaccurate dosing. Does that matter?

Overestimated cell numbers can have negative impact on the efficacy of the treatment.

Simply put, inadequate stem cell count, inadequate result. Dosage matters in any type of treatment. The study evaluated various cell counting methods and their potential shortcomings.

The authors of the study caution that great care must be taken when using kits and automated cell counting for stem cell dosing and cryobanking of cells intended for clinical use.

The study showed that the manual hemocytometer-DAPI method is the most accurate, but requires a highly experienced cell biologist or technician to make accurate counts and is not suitable for routine clinical use. In this study the most inaccurate counting came from the Cellometer.

If I'm going to go through the trouble and expense of stem cell treatment for my dog, I certainly want the treatment to work the way it should.

I'd want to know what cell counting method is used.

Full study:
Stem Cell Counting Methods Can Lead to Inaccurate Dosing

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