Sit. Stay. Learn. with Dr. Adrienne Wright

This week, we’re exploring a fascinating human pilot study with powerful takeaways for veterinary medicine. The research, “Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells for treating chronic kidney disease: A pilot study assessing safety and clinical feasibility” (Villanueva et al., 2019), examined how stem cells may support kidney function in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Results showed improved proteinuria and slower disease progression in most patients—without adverse effects. These

This week on Sit. Stay. Learn., I reviewed a 2022 study by He et al. in Frontiers in Veterinary Science that tested whether umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) could improve recovery after trochlear groove reconstruction (TGR) in dogs. Ten healthy poodles were divided into treatment and control groups, with UC-MSCs injected intra-articularly on days 0, 7, and 14. The treated dogs showed significantly lower white blood cell and neutrophil counts on days 7 and 21, indicating less

Today’s Paper: Adipose-Derived MSCs for Chronic Kidney DiseaseThis week, I’m switching gears. Most of the studies I cover are animal-focused, but this time we’re looking at a human pilot study that gives us insights we can bring right back into veterinary medicine.Paper: “Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells for treating chronic kidney disease: A pilot study assessing safety and clinical feasibility.” Authors: Villanueva, González, Lorca, Tapia, López G, Strodthoff, Fajre, Carreño,

This week, I reviewed a case study sent to me by our own technical services veterinarian, Dr. Larry Snyder. If you’ve never had the chance to talk with Dr. Snyder, you should—he’s got over 20 years of regenerative medicine experience and a passion for helping vets think through tough cases.The paper itself looked at platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for the treatment of prostatic cysts in dogs. It comes from researchers in Italy and was published in The Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research in 2018

For today's episode, I wanted to focus on Cats, who are often overlooked in veterinary research. MSCs offer a new approach to feline asthma. They’re immunomodulatory, capable of balancing immune responses and promoting regulatory pathways that could help manage chronic airway inflammation.

For our first episode, I wanted to look at platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Two veterinarians recently emailed me asking whether PRP has antimicrobial properties. Honestly, I’d never really considered it before—but if it does, that would be another big advantage on top of its known uses for joint injections. It might also explain why we rarely see complications after intra-articular PRP use.