Tenogenesis of Equine Peripheral Blood-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: In vitro Versus In vivo

Abstract

Background: Tendon injuries are a major cause of orthopaedic injuries, and often compromise the return to the same performance level. Therefore, different regenerative therapies, such as Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) and Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) have been explored to improve tendon healing in horses. However, ectopic bone formation of undifferentiated cells is a major concern, because of reports of this phenomenon, after intralesional injections of MSCs in rabbit Achilles tendons.