The Effect of Autologous Adipose Tissue–Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells’ Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Posttraumatic Spinal Cord Injury in a Domestic Ferret Patient

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is considered as one of the most problematic neurological conditions requiring specialized clinical intervention. Taking into account that SCI is characterized by extensive loss of nerve cells, stem cell–based therapy seems to be a reasonable modern strategy to the treatment of SCI. The presented case report describes for the first time experimental treatment with the use of autologous adipose tissue–derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) of the chronic posttraumatic SCI in a domestic ferret patient with paresis of back legs. It should be noted that most reports in the available literature concern ADSC-based therapies for acute or subacute SCI treatment in other species. Application of ADSC-based therapy did not cause any adverse reactions and resulted in significant improvement of neurological and motor functions. Based on these outcomes, it may be concluded that this form of therapy is promising and may be potentially translated into clinical veterinary practice.