Veterinary Regenerative Medicine: The Evolving Role of Stem Cell-Based Therapies

Veterinary medicine has witnessed a paradigm shift in recent past with the preference to use mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for livestock and companion animal therapeutics. MSCs made remarkable developments in treating complex clinical conditions, otherwise difficult to treat with routine medications such as musculoskeletal injuries, osteoarthritis, tendon and ligament damage, degenerative diseases, gastritis, endometritis, diabetes mellitus, and ocular diseases, offering new hope for veterinary practitioners and animal caregivers. This review is divided into two sections: The first part explores recent advancements in veterinary medicine using MSCs, mainly focusing on their sources, administration methods, therapeutic mechanisms, and clinical applications. Whereas, the second section highlights the emerging trends in advanced therapeutic strategies, including MSC and its derived cell-free therapies, with or without scaffolds, offering less invasive and more targeted treatments. Many studies show that MSCs from different sources exhibit unique regenerative and immunomodulatory properties, enabling more effective and better-quality tissue repair with appreciable inflammation control. However, despite the aforementioned promises, some challenges still remain, including the need for standardized therapy protocols, including the doses and a good number of replicates for long-term clinical trials to ensure safety and efficacy. This review covers a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of stem cell research and explores its translational potential in the latest developments shaping the future of veterinary regenerative medicine, especially using mesenchymal stem cells.