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An injury to a major tendon used to signal the end of a horse’s useful career. Developments in tendon treatment, especially stem cell therapy, have greatly increased the chances of a good recovery, often with the horse being able to return to a high level of performance. However, the healed tendon contained scar tissue that often meant it was not as strong or elastic as it was before the injury, and there was frequently a risk that it would be reinjured during exercise.

A new development in the way stem cells are grown may improve the durability of healed tendons.

Researchers at England’s Animal Health Trust designed a method to add growth factor beta3 to growing stem cells and to place the cells under tension while they were developing. The new cells were able to produce more collagen and other healing substances than cells grown in a conventional method.

More work is necessary before this development will be made available for treatment of horses with tendon injuries, but such an advance in technology would be welcomed by owners of injured horses.

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