A Revolutionary Treatment for OCD in Horses

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The most common sign of a horse with OCD is an enlarged joint swollen with extra fluid due to inflammation. The symptoms may present as lameness to varying degrees which can be more pronounced on some days than others. They may also include awkwardness in moving unusual stiffness poor impulsion or difficulties getting up and down.
The condition may be caused by a number of factors including rapid growth in young horses a large body size dietary imbalance hormonal imbalance genetics trauma andor exercise. It is found almost exclusively in domestic horses and suggestions are that the genetics of breeding larger fastergrowing horses have contributed to the condition. Breeds such as Warmbloods Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds can be prone to OCD. But the genomics are such that it is not easy to eliminate the condition by selective breeding since the disease involves multiple genes and any attempt might lead to other unintended consequences.
And there are natural preventative measures. Foals especially newborns in their first few months benefit from having free access to pastures and fields where they can run and play encouraging normal healthy bone growth rather than limited movement in the confines of a stall environment. Horses were built to move and it is that constant movement that maintains all their normal healthy functions especially during the critical growing period.
When they do develop joint lesions can be problematic to treat especially in more severe cases like those in Beyoncés situation which involved both knees.
Surgery was carried out by veterinary surgeons David Stack and Florent David in University College Dublin says Levingstone. During the surgical procedure the OCD lesion sites were debrided back to healthy tissue and the scaffold material was cut to size and implanted into the site. The porous structure of the scaffold enables cells within the defect and joint to infiltrate into the scaffold where the specifically tailored scaffold composition and structure directs these cells to form bone calcified cartilage and cartilage within the specified regions thus healing the damaged joint.
The biomaterials in the scaffold are composed of layers of collagen hydroxyapatite and hyaluronic acid materials found in joints. Basically the scaffold formed a template for new cartilage and bone to form and encourages the bodys own cells to regenerate and repair the damaged areas.
The 3D scaffold technology was developed by Levingstone Prof. Fergal OBrien who headed the project and Dr. John Gleeson in the Tissue Engineering Research Group