Intravenous administration of allogeneic Wharton jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of dogs with congestive heart failure secondary to myxomatous mitral valve disease

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be safely administered IV to dogs with congestive heart failure (CHF) secondary to myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) to improve cardiac function and prolong survival time. ANIMALS 10 client-owned dogs with CHF secondary to MMVD. PROCEDURES Dogs with an initial episode of CHF secondary to MMVD were enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Five dogs in the MSC group received allogeneic Wharton jelly-derived MSCs (2 X 10 6 cells/kg, IV), and 5 dogs in the placebo group received a 1% solution of autologous serum (IV) for 3 injections 3 weeks apart. Cell-release criteria included trilineage differentiation, expression of CD44 and CD90 and not CD34 and major histocompatability complex class II, normal karyotype, and absence of contamination by pathogenic microorganisms. Patients were followed for 6 months or until death or euthanasia. Echocardiographic data, ECG findings, serum cardiac biomarker concentrations, CBC, and serum biochemical analysis results were obtained prior to and 4 hours after the first injection and every 3 months after the final injection. RESULTS Lymphocyte and eosinophil counts decreased significantly 4 hours after injection, and monocytes decreased significantly only in dogs that received an MSC injection. No significant differences were seen in the echocardiographic variables, ECG results, serum cardiac biomarker concentrations, survival time, and time to first diuretic drug dosage escalation between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE This study showed that MSCs can be easily collected from canine Wharton jelly as an allogeneic source of MSCs and can be safely delivered IV to dogs with CHF secondary to MMVD.