EU-Canada Workshop on Preventing Tendon Injury in Equine Athletes: Translation of Accurate In Vitro Modelling to the Racetrack
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: College of Medical, Veterinary, Life Sci
Abstract
United Kingdom
Publications
Rich T
(2014)
Science-in-brief: What is needed to prevent tendon injury in equine athletes? A conversation between researchers and industry stakeholders.
in Equine veterinary journal
| Description | The main objectives of this workshop were to discuss the following questions - 1. What conditions occur within SDFT tissue of horses during high-speed exercise (including routine training)? What non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques could be used to measure damage-inducing states in tendons of these equine athletes, including hyperthermia and hypoxia? 2. Can cell culture and/or tissue explant systems adequately model repetitive exercise-induced cell stress? Could these techniques (improved or otherwise) be used to identify manipulable protective mechanisms? 3. What injury-prevention methods can we develop that could actually be applied to horses, with the enthusiasm and co-operation of trainers? How do we usefully measure the outcomes? All objectives to be discussed were covered extensively in the meeting - the resulting discussion document has been published. Objective three was eventually agreed upon as being the most important as our expectations of what is practicable in the industry will impact the type of experiments undertaken in objectives 1 and 2. Conference attendees other than the organizers: J. Given2, D.A. Hart3, M. Kjaer4, A. Scott5, S.P. Magnusson4, R. Dean1, J. Dudhia6, D. Guest7, A. Harrison8 (BEVA representative), A.R. Harvey9, T. Parkin10, H.R.C. Screen11, R.K. Smith6, C.S. Wright12 1 Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK 2 James Given Racing, Willoughton, Lincolnshire, UK. 3 McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada 4 Institute of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. 5 Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada. 6 The Royal Veterinary College, Hertfordshire, UK. 7 Animal Health Trust, Suffolk, UK 8 British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK and Three Counties Veterinary Hospital, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, UK. 9 School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK 10 School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK 11 Queen Mary University of London, London, UK 12 Institute for Applied Health Research, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK. The main unexpected outcome from the workshop is a misalignment between end-user expectation and the science being delivered. Stakeholders are focused on prevention which runs counter to experimental emphasis on stem cells as injectable therapies. Use of such unproven cellular therapies as a solution for tendon repair is stifling much needed research into prevention. Other industry groups may be useful early adopters. There is more onus on injury prevention for Eventers. Focusing early work here with later application to flat racing may be of value. Another research gap is how we monitor micro-damage pathology. We still cannot do this and as a result, we cannot adequately investigate pre-clinical injury. The 'bottleneck' is that injured tendon tissue is not being shared - this should be investigated and remedied. Benefits of workshop to our BBSRC funded science and UK science in general: Our aim was to provide an in informal discussion space for researchers, trainers and veterinarians. The participation of end-users (i.e. equine trainers/vets) provided valuable information on key areas where research should be targeted (to facilitate translation in training yards and on the track). Their support of a focus on injury prevention was confirmed, as was the need for a solid scientific rationale from research teams. This final component was agreed by all participants as being the most informative. Links with local Glasgow based researchers as well as our international colleagues have been strengthened. An EU grant application is being planned and closer liaison has now been achieved with the Animal Heath Trust (Newmarket). This latter outcome has already directly benefited our currently funded BBSRC grant through improved access to tissue specimens. Outputs: A science-in-brief review in Equine Veterinary Journal. Exposure in this journal was thought to be the best avenue with which to reach our research audience. Rich, T, and Patterson-Kane, J. (2014) What is needed to prevent tendon injury in equine athletes? A conversation between researchers and industry stakeholders. Equine Veterinary Journal . ISSN 0425-1644. A Glasgow Caledonian/Glasgow University initiative that arose as a result of the workshop resulteded in a NC3Rs application by Catherine Wright and Janet Patterson-Kane; the pre-application was successful and a full application invited. |
| Exploitation Route | The best way to take these findings on would - in the first instance - be through publicity and publication. The following outputs have already been generated. For practitioners: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.12269/abstract The metrics for this article have been particularly high - http://www.altmetric.com/details.php?domain=onlinelibrary.wiley.com&citation_id=2430577 For the public we have generated the following: http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_360001_en.html For equine industry/enthusiasts We update and share information using our twitter feed https://twitter.com/Horsework_ which links to our main research page http://www.horsework.net/ The next way to take these findings forward would be to include more 'practicing' veterinarians on BBSRC research panels that assess applications. This may better align industry expectation with basic research. At present, it is largely impossible for veterinarians at the coal face to impact decisions made about funding priorities for funding bodies such as the BBSRC. |
| Sectors | Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism |
| URL | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1111/evj.12269/ |
| Description | This is a workshop grant so impact is limited. The racehorse industry is also tricky to regulate - especially given the international context. However it was clear that horse owners were invested in findings ways to prevent tendon injury rather than treat it. The acceptance of new stem-cell therapeutics was limited which is probably justifiable given the lack of robust scientific data to support their efficacy. Clearly the animals that are treated with these expensive reagents are monitored more closely that their untreated counterparts, which complicates the assessment of injured, untreated control cohorts. Care over exercise regimes and post injury management probably explains much of the "success" attributed to these agents. It was also clear that access to damaged equine tendon tissue has been extraordinarily limited. A central tissue bank that can actually be accessed by trained pathologists may allow the earliest lesions to be examined properly. This is a current challenge that must be overcome to achieve true impact. The public are accessing these findings and are discussing situations than may cause tendon injury. These include racetrack surface which, whilst locally improved, still require additional work internationally. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | A website and associated twitterfeed |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Online discussion - high levels of on-line engagement Increased dissemination of scientific material - discussion amongst interested groups - enthusiastic take-up of twitterfeed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014 |
| URL | http://www.horsework.net/ |
| Description | Online news story |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Online article - |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_360001_en.html |
| Description | Workshop at Glasgow for vets, horse trainers and scientists |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talks, discussion, working paper A published document discussing the need for preventative therapy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.12269/pdf |